Acceptance of homosexuality in the Netherlands
According to international comparative opinion research, the Netherlands is among the countries where homosexuality is the most widely accepted…
In recent years, however, a number of developments have taken place which rather contradict this image of complete acceptance. Hostility towards homosexuality is common in schools, making life more difficult for homosexual teachers and pupils than for their heterosexual counterparts. Gays and lesbians are not infrequently insulted in the streets or even physically assaulted; in some neighbourhoods their lives are made a misery, and in orthodox religious circles homosexuality is regarded as a sin…
[T]he majority of gays and lesbians have encountered negative experiences, on the streets or in nightlife centres, but also from family members, at work and in sport. These experiences relate to denigrating comments about homosexuality or homosexuals, malicious gossip or bullying, and verbal or sometimes even physical violence. ‘Fag**t’ is a widely used insult at work and in sport.
In 2000 respondents were asked what they would think if their ‘imaginary’ son or daughter were to live together with a partner of the same sex. 12% of respondents said they would find this unacceptable.
The fourth and last dimension of attitudes to homosexuality in this study concerns the reaction to the visible presence and expression of homosexuality in the public domain. This dimension rarely receives attention in population surveys; only one survey, held in 2000, asked about one aspect of this: kissing in public. If two men do this, 42% of the Dutch population find this repugnant; if it is two women who are kissing, this raises objections among 31% of respondents…
Negative attitudes to homosexuality are found more than average among young people, older people, men, the less well educated, religious people and Dutch citizens of ethnic origin. Among the indigenous population, religiousness is the main determinant of a negative attitude; of the indigenous Dutch population who say they consider religion to be ‘very important’, almost 80% have a negative attitude to homosexuality.