Gay Pride Parade

It started with 5 Gay weddings on the boat of the City, performed by Mayor Job Cohen, the first couple see movie are friends of a friend. AT5 is a local broadcaster but this news item could be seen all over Europe. These ‘mixed’ marriages are made up of Dutch and American same-sex couples. I know that [...]

40 Years Ago Today…

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City.
They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when gays, lesbians and transgenders fought [...]

May 5th, Liberation Festival

Yesterday it was Remembrance Day and today we celebrate Liberation Day.
On 5 May the Dutch celebrate the end of the Second World War at the Museumplein (Museum Quarter) and reflect on the imprisonment of millions of other people around the world today.
Artists and actors, performers and cooks, volunteers and many others: they offer a wonderful [...]

Shared History, Shared Values

April 2009 marks 400 years since Captain Henry Hudson departed Amsterdam on a Dutch East India Company ship, the Halve Maen (Half Moon). That September, Hudson sailed up the New York River that now bears his name. Hudson’s voyage attracted Dutch traders to the area, leading to the establishment of diverse, relatively tolerant settlements: New [...]

Holland on the Hudson

Tolerance, a Real Dutch Treat
The popular idea of the 17th century Dutch settlement New Amsterdam is that its inhabitants muddled around for a while, then made room for the English so the real history of the 13 colonies could begin. “That is not true,” says Russell Shorto, writer of The Island at the Center of [...]

Don’t Divorce My Family

Don’t let this happen!
Hi,
Have you heard that Ken Starr — and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund — filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and attempting to forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year? The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, [...]