Less than half of Amsterdam young people accept homosexuality

Only 43 percent of young people in Amsterdam accept that two people of the same sex can be in love with each other, according to the Youth Health Monitor 2023 of municipal health service GGD. Two years earlier, 63 percent of Amsterdam's young people still considered same-sex couples “normal.”

The GGD surveyed over 5,300 secondary school students in classes 2 and 4 in 41 schools in the Amsterdam-Amstelland region. They found that boys, kids in the second class, and pre-vocational secondary education students are least accepting of homosexuality.

GGD researcher Lenette Rietveld found the decline in acceptance of same-sex love very worrying. The health service did not look at possible causes for the decline. The data collected for the Youth Health Monitor also doesn’t show whether the decline in acceptance translates to less social safety for LGBTQIA+ young people.

The other results of the Youth Health Monitor correspond with national findings. Teens feel less healthy and more stressed. More young people are at risk of problematic social media use. And more teenagers report getting bullied, in person and online. Girls score worse than boys in almost all aspects of mental health.

The Amsterdam GGD was the only one to ask questions about homosexuality.