Dutch Cabinet Participates in Amsterdam Gay Pride

AMSTERDAM, July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dutch Cabinet will participate in
the Amsterdam Gay Pride on August 2. The boat is an initiative of Dutch
Minister Ronald Plasterk, who is the coordinating Secretary of gay policy.
Plasterk has invited fellow Cabinet member Guusje ter Horst, Minister for
Home Affairs, who has agreed to come along. It will be the first time the
Cabinet is represented during the Gay Pride. Also new this year will be a
police boat with police-officials and the Christianity boat. The parade,
which will see around 80 boats sailing through the Prinsengracht, will
commence at 1.30pm.
"We are glad that this year politicians in Holland are more aware of the
need to focus on social acceptance of homosexuality as they used to do over
the last few years", ProGay-chairman Frank van Dalen says. "The Amsterdam Gay
Pride is an event with a substantive touch. It is important to make
homosexuality visible, because you can't deny what's visible." Van Dalen is
very pleased with the Christian participation. "So far Orthodox Christians
believed in two separate worlds, as if homosexuality is not part of their own
closed society. This boat proves them wrong." Several dedicated masses will
be held on the day, of which one is in a synagogue.
Street parties will be organized at several locations across the city.
There will be outdoor stage performances by national and international DJ-s
and artists at the Reguliersdwarsstraat, at the Westermarkt and on
Amstelveld. The Amstelstraat and Paardenstraat will host a street party
especially composed for women. The Dutch bear band Bearforce1 will perform at
Amstel.
The will be an extensive cultural program around Amsterdam Gay Pride. The
Jewish Historical Museum will host an exhibition with gay-related photos and
will show the movie 'Jerusalem is proud to present' about the Jerusalem gay
pride in relation to the orthodox Jews. The Amsterdam Historical Museum has
organized a special tour the Dutch royal family. Artis zoo has a tour about
homosexuality in the animal kingdom. There will also be activities at the Van
Gogh museum and the Museum of Bags and Purses. In Rialto Filmtheater and De
Uitkijk several gay and lesbian films will be shown. This year the second
edition of the Company Pride will be held about homosexuality on the working
floor. The theme will be 'Visibility in Business, at Work'.
Interest in the Amsterdam Gay Pride is bigger than ever this year. The
maximum of participants for the boat parade was reached more than a month
before the event. Also remarkable is the interest from the business world.
The Amsterdam Gay Pride sponsors this year will be ING and TNT. It is for the
first time that multinationals support the event, which indicates the
Amsterdam Gay Pride is developing strongly.
http://www.weareproud.nl
SOURCE Bennink Bicker Caarten BV

More information: Frank van Dalen, chairman ProGay, +31-654-711-590; Tijn
Elferink, spokesman of ProGay, +31-620-348-757