On June 28, we focused on the riots at the Stonewall Inn in New York, but we also used photos of a lesser-known protest from our own soil. This piece of history also deserves its own spotlight – the protest in question took place before Stonewall. 

On January 29, 1969, the first gay protest in the Netherlands took place. This was a protest against the so-called 'article 248bis' that lasted between 1911 and 1971, which, as part of the Morality Act, prohibited sexual contact with people of the same sex under the age of 21. This article was discriminatory, since sexual contact between heterosexual persons was already allowed if the younger of the two was over 16. 
The COC has also fallen short in protesting against it, hoping that this law would eventually be forgotten. As an association, we did not take on members under the age of 21 as a precaution, but for fear of being banned as an association, we unfortunately did not speak out too openly against this. At the time it was very easy to ban associations and organizations. We hope to continue to speak out in the future, especially now that times have changed, and to extend a hand to other smaller organizations as well. 
We proudly keep the photos of this protest in our archive: these were pioneers, which means that we as an organization now have a bigger voice.

The imitation of Stonewall and the tradition of Pink Saturday only came in 1977, because without the internet, such events in our country became less popular. 

Would you like to learn more about the Dutch LGBTQIA+ movement and article 248bis after reading this article? Below are some suggestions:
https://withpride.ihlia.nl/story/artikel-248bis/
https://winq.nl/articles/224620/geschiedenis-het-einde-van-248bis/
https://jokeswiebel.nl/het-einde-van-artikel-248bis/
https://lindaduits.nl/2019/01/eigen-homogeschiedenis-eerst/