In response to the dastardly act, in which 2 homosexuals in Arnhem were mistreated by a group of young people, a 'Hand in Hand loop for diversity' was organized in the same city at the beginning of April. The initiative is also being taken in The Hague to set up such a 'protest run'. The idea comes from Roy Walthaus at the bar of café 't Achterom. According to him, the intention is “to take a walk with a 'cozy club' across the Binnenhof from the cafe”. Walthaus wants to issue a statement in The Hague, as also happened in Amsterdam, Eindhoven and of course Arnhem.

Encouraged by the owner of 't Achterom, the initiative is already online a day later, thanks in part to Peter van Koeseveld, who is responsible for the organisation. Not only guests of café 't Achterom are interested, but other (gay) bars also want to participate in this promotion. On Saturday, April 8, the 'Hand-in-hand with Arnhem' Loop will be started from 10 bars, including the COC Café.

From the various pubs, the groups start at the same time with a walk through the center of The Hague to eventually meet all the demonstrators on the Spuiplein. Roy is still amazed at the turnout. “I had hoped for a maximum of 200 followers, but when I was there on the Spuiplein, I quickly counted 300 to 350 people. That gave me goosebumps for a while.” It is such a great success that even the police don't know what to do with this large turnout. With several police officers on their bicycles and a police van that has been summoned in all haste, the duty-doers offer the growing group the feeling that they are in good hands.

At the Spuiplein everyone is welcomed by gay men's choir Vox Rosa. Ras-Hagenaar Fred Zuiderwijk gets the word and wears a very appropriate column from Japke-d. Bouma for bolt cutters and gay tolerance. This is a bull's eye, as Zuiderwijk himself puts it. The weather cooperated perfectly that day, so the sun and the friendly atmosphere are enjoyed to the fullest. After that, everyone goes their own way again.

Some more links:

http://www.omroepwest.nl/nieuws/3391364/COC-Haaglanden-Het-is-genoeg
https://www.facebook.com/COCHaaglanden/videos/1459208320764525/
https://www.facebook.com/rwalthaus/videos/1911802912178956/
Article AD

[ngg_images source = ”galleries” container_ids = ”10 ″ display_type =” photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails ”override_thumbnail_settings =” 0 ″ thumbnail_width = ”120 ″ thumbnail_height =” 90 ″ thumbnail_crop = ”1 ″ images_per_page =" 28 ″ number " = ”0 ″ show_all_in_lightbox =” 0 ″ use_imagebrowser_effect = ”0 ″ show_slideshow_link =” 0 ″ slideshow_link_text = ”[Show slideshow]” order_by = ”sortorder” order_direction = ”ASC” returns = ”included” maximum_entity_count "]