LGBT history in the Netherlands

Since World War II, the movement for LGBT rights has been galvanized by both events abroad and increasing liberalization domestically.

Engaging in sodomy was a public offence in the Dutch Republic from 1730 until 1811, when the Napoleonic Code which decriminalised homosexuality was first put into place, following French annexation.

[4] In 1725, a young Dutch sailor, Leendert Hasenbosch, was deliberately marooned alone on Ascension Island as a punishment for sodomy; he is presumed to have died of thirst.

It stated that homosexuality was preventable by the co-education of males and females in school, as well as promoting heterosexual marriage to young children.

[4] In the eighteenth century, sexual vices such as masturbation came under attack, but at the same time many authors celebrated Socrates and Plato's perceived paederastic friendship.

Same-sex attractions were still perceived as a sin and often kept quiet, and it has been argued that this silence both prevented and ironically encouraged homosexuality in males.

Historian Theo van der Meer writes, "The average penalty imposed on these women was six years' confinement, as compared to twelve for men.

In response to this new law, a Dutch chapter of the German Scientific Humanitarian Committee was organized under the leadership of Jacob Schorer [nl].

During the sexual revolution of the 1960s, this more open-minded point of view resulted in a less repressive attitude towards homosexuality and the legalization of adultery, abortion, and pornography.

[citation needed] In 1987, the world's first gay memorial in public space, the Homomonument, was opened in the centre of Amsterdam.

In 1993 the Dutch parliament enacted the "Equal Rights Law", which included sexual orientation as a category legally protected against discrimination, for example in employment, housing, and the provision of both public and private goods and services.

To celebrate freedom and diversity, the Amsterdam Gay Pride was established in 1996, which became famous for the Canal Parade of boats.

[15] Isolated verbal and physical attacks on LGBT people tend to come from the socially conservative leadership of the Muslim community and their followers[16][17][18] (more than 5% of the population).

While homosexual relations between consenting adults in private are legal, most of the people in the island territories affiliate with the socially conservative Roman Catholic Church.

In 2002 the Dutch Red Cross Society started to participate in the annual gay pride festival to promote AIDS-HIV education.

In 2005 Aruba, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, refused to recognize same-sex marriages, although it has legalized homosexual relations between consenting adults in private.

The gay community turned out in large number during the subsequent mass, leading the preacher to cancel the Eucharist.