Interest group, entrepreneurs blame municipality for not saving Rotterdam Pride

The organization behind Rotterdam Pride is in financial trouble, and for the first time in over ten years, there will be no official Pride Week in the Netherlands’ second-largest city. Local entrepreneurs and the LGBTQIA+ community are working hard to organize alternative events, but it is still a big blow, they told Rijnmond. Many blame the municipality for the event’s downfall, saying that the municipality did not want to save Rotterdam Pride.

In recent years, Rotterdam Pride has organized approximately a third of the Pride activities and coordinated and promoted Pride Week. The foundation also organized various events throughout the year. In December, it became apparent that the foundation was in financial trouble and couldn’t meet its payment obligations.

Rotterdam Pride turned to the municipality for help, but the municipality concluded that emergency support was not an option. The foundation’s financial woes were not caused by external problems like a pandemic, and there were other parties that could organize the Pride event. As a result, Pride Week will not happen in its old form this year, though several smaller LGBTQIA+ organizations are working hard to arrange some activities in September.

“It is very strange that the second largest city of the Netherlands will not have a Pride this year,” Wilma Ruis, chairman of COC Rotterdam, the interest group for the LGBTQIA+ community, told Rijnmond. “Even Krimpen aan den IJssel has one.” According to Ruis, this creates the impression that the municipality of Rotterdam does not care about this event that is so important to the community. “The municipality did not try enough to fill the gap. This would not have happened with the Port Days.”

Marc Kabbedijk, owner of the LGBTQIA+ bar Ferry, feels the same. He added that the city has moved the date for Pride Week three times in recent years. “The main question is: does the municipality of Rotterdam even want a Pride? If this is how you have handled the celebration over the past four years, I cannot escape the idea that there is zero interest in it.”

Jan-Willem Veerbeek, owner of the LGBTQIA+ venues KeerWeer, Strano, and Bar Loge90, is also very disappointed. He blames the municipality, but the Rotterdam Pride Foundation also has some responsibility here, he told Rijnmond. The foundation should have been more steadfast. “As an organization, you have to know exactly what you support. If you don’t want Pride Week to be on a certain date, then don’t allow it.”

Chantal van der Putten of GayRotterdam is a bit more optimistic, considering this year a transition to a different, but still excellent celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community. “Many other organizations have organized all sorts of things for Pride Week over the years. We have been organizing the Pride March for a few years now, and it will continue unchanged this year,” she told the broadcaster. “The role of Rotterdam Pride was different from that of Pride organizations in other cities. They did not become the umbrella organization that was initially intended.” The celebration can survive Rotterdam Pride’s downfall, she believes.

Responsible alderman Faouzi Achbar told Rijmond that he met with many LGBTQIA+ organizations last week, and they were satisfied with how the municipality was handling the situation. “Several of them have already started working on concrete actions for Pride. We hope for a great Pride Week in September that the community and the city can be proud of,” he said.

Achbar added that the municipality supports the community and “attaches great importance to the annual Pride.”