[1][2][3] Same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1811 after France invaded the country and installed the Napoleonic Code, erasing any remaining sodomy laws.

The changes eventually led to homosexuality's declassification as a mental illness in 1973 and a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation in the military.

The Equal Treatment Act 1994 bans discrimination on account of sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations, and other areas.

The Netherlands has become one of the most culturally liberal countries in the world,[5] with recent polls indicating that more than 90% of Dutch people support same-sex marriage.

Between 1730 and 1811, sodomy was considered a capital crime by the Dutch Republic, resulting in widespread panic throughout the Netherlands and the persecution of hundreds of homosexuals.

[9] After the French invaded and installed the Napoleonic Code in 1811, all laws against same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults in private were repealed.

[11] That day, Job Cohen, the Mayor of Amsterdam, married four same-sex couples after becoming a registrar specifically to officiate at the weddings.

[15] In October 2021, it was clarified and investigated that "any memberships of the Dutch Royal Family" legally can enter into same-sex marriage in effect since 1 April 2001 – without losing any titles, rights and/or privileges whatsoever.

Before this, government-financed religious schools were not allowed to fire or deny promotions to teachers on the "single fact" of someone's sexual orientation.

A bill that removed the "single fact" rule and ensured that LGBTQ students and teachers cannot be fired because of their sexual orientation was debated in Parliament in 2014.

[32] A proposal to add disability and sexual orientation as prohibited grounds for discrimination to Article 1 of the Constitution of the Netherlands was approved in the House of Representatives on 30 June 2020 (124 to 26) and in the Senate on 9 February 2021 (58 to 15).

[41][42] In December 2013, the Dutch Parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill allowing transgender people to legally change their gender on birth certificates and other official documents without undergoing sterilization and gender-affirming surgery.

[44] In December 2019, the House of Representatives unanimously adopted a motion presented by Vera Bergkamp and Kirsten van den Hul calling on the Dutch Government to investigate the extent of intersex medical interventions in the Netherlands.

[53][54][55] In November 2020, the Dutch cabinet officially apologized for the fact that between 1985 and 2014, transgender people who wanted to change their legal gender were forced to undergo surgery and sterilization.

[59] The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport publishes guidelines recommending the use of puberty blockers in transgender adolescents of at least Tanner Stage II with informed consent and approval of an endocrinologist.

[62] On 17 May 2019, after television programme Ewout & homogenezing, which was broadcast on RTL 5 on 23 April 2019, showed that several organisations, including Dutch Pentecostal and Baptist groups, were offering conversion therapy, the Labour Party (PvdA) and Democrats 66 (D66) requested an investigation into the allegations.

[64] On 29 May, the House of Representatives adopted another motion; this time calling on the Minister of Justice and Security, Ferdinand Grapperhaus, to create a legislative proposal to explicitly ban conversion therapy.

On 28 October 2015, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport announced that a 12-month deferral on donating blood would replace the existing lifetime ban.

[71][72] On 1 August 2019, the Dutch Government introduced full coverage of PrEP and other related care for gay and bisexual men.

The drug is available at all Municipal Health Services (GGD) offices in the country, and can drastically decrease the risk of contracting HIV.

[78] The 2023 Eurobarometer found that 94% of Dutch people thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, and 94% agreed that "there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex".

[80] Many of these bars and establishments were shut down during the German occupation of the Netherlands, and with the introduction of Paragraph 175 into Dutch law same-sex sexual activity was criminalized.

Following the end of the war, the Shakespeare Club was established, with the goals of social emancipation and offering culture and recreation for gay and lesbian people.

During the sexual revolution of the 1960s, many gay bars and clubs opened in a number of cities, and societal acceptance of LGBTQ people began to grow.

[81] In 1977, LGBTQ groups began organising annual marches under the name Pink Saturday (Roze Zaterdag [nl]).

In 1987, the world's first gay memorial, the Homomonument, commemorating LGBTQ people persecuted during the Nazi period, was opened in Amsterdam.

The Netherlands has frequently been referred to as one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world,[82][83] on account of its early adoption of LGBTQ rights legislation and tolerance perception.

Other opinion polls have also found high levels of public and societal acceptance of LGBTQ people, again leading many to call the Netherlands one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world.

After the attack, several politicians, police officers, priests and many others showed their opposition to violence against LGBTQ people by holding hands in public.

With Dutch support, local LGBTQ organizations in the Seychelles and Botswana were successful in having their anti-gay sodomy laws repealed or struck down.