Amsterdam Pride Week in Review
Our worldwide gay community has a lot to be proud of and celebrate. This year’s Pride Week in Review takes a look at Amsterdam Pride Walk, HUNQZ efforts to support equal rights for sex workers and Canal Pride. Fabulous photos and inspiring insights await.
Related – HUNQZ in Red Light Windows
Amsterdam Pride
The calendar of events for Amsterdam Pride is impressive, with special events planned for nine days in the run-up to the world-famous Canal Parade. One of the most special events is the Pride Walk. They also have a Senior Pride, a Youth Pride, a Pride of Color, and even a Beach Pride. Pride Walk is a peaceful protest against nations that have anti-LGBTQ+ laws, and each flag of these nations is presented in the Pride Walk.
PlanetRomeo Foundation Pride Walk
This year, PlanetRomeo Foundation joined the Pride Walk for the first time ever. A few months before the parade, our Foundation had a change in leadership. Godwyns took over as coordinator with very little time to get everything together. We spoke to Godwyns about the preparations and the feelings and achievements on the day itself. He was eager to point out, that Kevin, another colleague from our Care Department, had worked tirelessly to ensure PlanetRomeo Foundation would attend this year’s Pride Walk.
A word from Godwyns
“Originally about 40 volunteers signed up for the Pride Walk. On the day, it was actually about 60 volunteers, made up of employees of ROMEO, board members, friends, and family. It was really incredible to see, and the whole walk really felt like Pride. In the Pride Village at the Vondel Park, we had a stall, and we engaged with so many people who wanted to know more about the Foundation. We even signed up some new volunteers.”
Collections on the Day
“One of the most special things to happen on the day was the raising of cash donations. Officially only Aidsfonds are allowed to collect money for their foundation. With a lot of help from the amazing Hans Verhoeven, Aidsfonds agreed to allow PlanetRomeo Foundation to collect on the day. We raised over €600 in cash donations, and this was followed up by more online donations.”
Armenian Project
“We also created a special flyer to highlight one of our projects with the trans community in Armenia. The flyer has a QR code to help people find out more about PlanetRomeo Foundation on our website.”
Ten Years Old
“PlanetRomeo Foundation is ten years old this year. In that time, we’ve already awarded over €900k to 225 projects across 85 countries. To think a foundation that is really only run by two staffers and a board of volunteers has already achieved so much. It’s really remarkable. The action on the day at Pride Walk and in Pride Village was the culmination of ten years of hard work and a huge team effort that resulted in a beautiful day.”
The Future
“We have so much planned for the future that it’s going to be a very exciting year and we plan to be back at Pride Walk in 2020. I really want to express how grateful I am to all the board members, the ROMEO Team and my colleague Kevin, who all worked so hard to make this possible.”
PlanetRomeo Foundation/Pride Walk Photos
HUNQZ IN RED LIGHT WINDOWS
During this year’s Amsterdam Pride, My Red Light and HUNQZ came together to create awareness around the need for good, safe, and legal working places for ALL sex workers – men and women alike. To do this, several HUNQZ stood behind My Red Light’s windows in the world-famous Amsterdam Red Light District during Canal Pride.
Canal Pride
Each year Amsterdam is home to the world-famous Canal Pride. Boats filled with LGBTQ+ groups float along the Prisengracht to the adoration of hundreds of thousands of spectators. The event is highly celebrated as a testimony to the great love and equality often experienced by LGBTQ+ people in Holland. The event is also open to much criticism; a fanfare presenting gay people to a straight audience, or an over-commercialized event that has lost the true meaning of Pride.
Whatever camp you belong to, pro or anti-Canal Pride. We can all probably agree that arguing over an LGBTQ+ event being too big, or too commercial is better than no Pride celebration at all. Canal Pride in Amsterdam is actually much bigger than a one-day floating parade. It is a week-long festival that tries to be as inclusive and ‘woke’ as possible.
Pride Photos
Pride Amsterdam on Instagram
View this post on Instagram
PHOTO Credits