Download hier het complete rapport. - EduDivers

steeds gewoner, nooit gewoon
the feeling that the they are being forced to accept homosexuality; a fifth objection is
that homosexuality goes against religious principles; a sixth is that it is against nature,
with virtually no distinction being made here between religious and biological nature;
the seventh issue is that homosexuality is seen as a psychological disorder.
The objections voiced vary across the different groups, and as one objection disappears,
another takes its place. Sometimes the objections are directed against gay men, sometimes
against gay men and lesbians, sometimes against particular homosexual practices
such as anal sex. Most of the objections are traditional in nature and were commonly
held by the Dutch public at large in the past. For this reason, many respondents believe
that it is just a matter of time before homosexuality is accepted in these groups, just as it
is among ‘ordinary’ Dutch citizens.
Trends over time
This study suggests that the race towards gay emancipation has not yet been run. Dutch
citizens of Moroccan and Turkish background, for example, attach much more importance
to family and religion today than they did in the 1960s and 70s, when the first
generation of ‘guest workers’ settled in the Netherlands; this shift in values has a negative
effect on acceptance of homosexuality. The most positive group in their attitudes
towards gay sex are those of (Creole) Surinamese background, who have a philosophy of
‘live and let live’, though they too often object to gays or lesbians openly displaying their
sexual orientation in public. Orthodox Protestants acknowledge that there are gay men
and women within their own circles, too, and urge them to make known their sexual
preferences; however, they have difficulty with homosexual relationships.
The objections to homosexuality have cultural and religious roots which have not yet
disappeared in the indigenous Dutch population, and even less so among the groups
discussed here. It is worrying that 30 years of gay emancipation have not led to clearer
results among new Dutch citizens. There appears to be no end in sight, at least in the
short term, to the difficult situation faced by gays and lesbians from ethnic minority and
orthodox Protestant circles, because they are caught between their own group and other
Dutch citizens, between family and ‘white’ gays. The gay organisations in Orthodox
circles are the only group that has achieved (albeit limited) success in making homosexuality
something that can be seen and talked about. The resistance in this group, too,
is stubborn, however, as evidenced by the rejection of homosexual teachers and pupils
at orthodox Protestant schools. One specific problem is the almost total invisibility of
lesbians in all groups, except among Dutch citizens of Surinamese origin.
Opportunities for change
In the 1960s there was a favourable climate for gay emancipation in the Netherlands,
created among other things by powerful processes of individualisation, secularisation,
democratisation and sexual liberalisation. Those processes are almost absent today in
the groups discussed here. This only serves to make an effective gay and lesbian policy
all the more important. A number of possibilities for doing this are formulated here. For
a long time there has been pressure for more education about homosexual citizenship.
This is a long way from having been achieved, and generally has too little input from
362