How pink is the policy in Wassenaar? Steps have been taken, but these are mainly made of paper, as became apparent on Sunday 2 March during the election debate on LGBT topics in Eetcafé 't Hoekje in Wassenaar.

Of course, schools should provide information about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexuality, according to all candidates who will participate in the LGBT election debate that COC Haaglanden and DWH Delft are organizing in Wassenaar. In fact, it's already happening! 'At the initiative of the VVD, the Adelbert College provides information together with the COC,' says VVD candidate Anouk van Eekelen. 'It has to be done at primary school too', says D2 member Eva van Rijen. 'We have the money for that. We are already subsidizing.'

Conservative
But an experience expert in the Eetcafé 't Hoekje, which is packed with interested parties, says that she never noticed anything of the information at school. 'If the target group doesn't notice, we should do more,' says Aart van Sloten (GroenLinks). 'Children who discover that they are gay or transsexual often struggle with feelings of loneliness or they are being bullied.' Anouk van Eekelen: 'Wassenaar is conservative. I tell my children that later they can choose whether to marry a boy or a girl. The response is very surprised: do you teach your children that? I was shocked by that.' Discussion leader Wouter Neerings asks whether the subsidy that is now being earmarked for LGBT policy will be continued. 'Yes', everyone says. Moreover, this must be tackled integrally, with the school advisory service and the COC. The City Council will take the initiative in this regard.

Tolerance Scan
Pink elderly are not so visible. Should the municipality be actively involved in establishing Pink residential groups for the elderly? Jacques Ruijgrok (Heart for Wassenaar): 'If people need a pink residential group, they should do it', he says. 'We believe that everyone should just associate with everyone.' But that is not enough for Eva van Rijen. 'Four years ago I heard from the elderly in the nursing home that they should go back into the closet. That is why we have now introduced a tolerance scan. It is free, but is not used anywhere in Wassenaar. I think that's outrageous.' Especially the Wassenaarse Zorgverlening (SWZ) is failing. Someone in the audience says: 'Pink elderly people are lonely sometimes. I offered to SWZ to become a 'buddy' of people who need it, for example to go shopping or have a drink. But the SWZ doesn't do that.' Van Rijen gets angry. Pointing to the other side of the street, where the SWZ house Sophieke is located, she says: 'The SWZ cannot claim that there are no LGBT residents there at all, can it?' Bert Ooms (Passion for Wassenaar): 'We have to train healthcare workers on this. It should be discussed during intake interviews with institutions. Bullying doesn't just happen at school, but also in nursing homes. One has to be alert to that.'

Pink Reigâhs
More attention should be paid to LGBT discrimination in sport. Eva va Rijen: 'You have to stop the match if the chants get too intense. Speaking choirs are also a problem for girls. When they are young, they all want to play football, but when they are 15 they give up. Then those chants can no longer be tolerated.' According to the candidates, it should be discussed with the associations and with the parents. And they all promise to one day attend a football match with the Pink Reigâhs.