Tilburg's "Gay Village" a hoax

A proposal to create a Gay Village in Tilburg turned out to be a hoax, the group Roze Maandag foundation said. The group wanted to make a statement against intolerant behaviour towards the gay population in The Netherlands in advance of the first day of the Tilburg fair. The fair’s annual event kicks off on July 21, also known as Roze Maandag, or Pink Monday. “We are happy with the thousands of negative reactions, and the fewer positive ones,” the foundation said in a statement. “It is great to hear that the majority is against the idea. All we wanted was to create awareness, and we are certain that we succeeded in this.” The fictitious proposal called for a separate village to be built on an old military field in Tilburg solely for gay's, lesbians and transgender people. The group said that they received about 60 applications of people interested in the project. Gay rights advocates COC-Tilburg said they were shocked by the idea which duped most major media outlets in the Netherlands. Social media outlets exploded with comments from people outraged by the thought of a Gay Village. "Shameful and moronic plan, it is like creating an outdated ghetto community for a safer ‘straight’ society," said talk show presenter Cornald Maas. “I can only hope that this enclosed gay ghetto is just a joke,” said TV host Peter van der Vorst. Statistics Netherlands, the Dutch statistics bureau known as CBS, calculated that 22 percent of gay man, and 30 percent of lesbians do not feel safe in their own community here in The Netherlands.