Senate supports constitutional ban on discrimination based on sexuality, disability

A large majority in the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, voted for an amendment to the Constitution so that it explicitly bans discrimination based on disability and sexual orientation. The proposal got 58 votes for and only 15 votes against, NOS reports.

Currently, Article 1 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, belief, political opinion, race, sex or any other ground. The D66, GroenLinks and PvdA proposal wants to explicitly add disability and sexual orientation to that list.

In order to actually amend the Constitution, the proposal must again be approved by the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, and the Eerste Kamer after the parliamentary elections on March 17. Then it will need two-thirds majority support.

According to the broadcaster, there is a good chance that the proposed amendment will survive the second votes as there is broad support for it. Moreover, the parliamentary election won't change the composition of the Senate.

LGBTQ+ interest organization COC called the result of the Senate vote a big victory. The explicit mention of sexual orientation in Article 1 of the Constitution will be a better safeguard against discrimination, the organization said.