LGBTQIA+ couples harassed in Noord-Brabant town
The Noord-Brabant town of Cuijk seems to be getting less safe for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. At least two couples face harassment. The Regenboograad interest group is launching a new brochure for young people from the community, with practical tips, helplines, and support points, Omroep Brabant reports.
A 23-year-old genderfluid man, Bas, told the broadcaster that he is confronted with hatred, intimidation, and exclusion daily. “I sometimes wear heels and dresses or nail polish, which is visible.” And that is often met with verbal violence, sometimes also physical threats. “Things are sometimes thrown over the hedge. Once the garden was full of eggs. Apparently, this is necessary if you are gay and live somewhere.”
Despite living within easy walking distance from an Albert Heijn, Bas always drives the 40 or 50 meters instead of walking. “When I walk, they follow me threateningly. In the car, I know I’m safe. That’s not good, but I’m used to it. You learn to live with it.”
According to Bas, the perpetrators are often boys on fatbikes. He filed a police report once, but it had no result. Now, he no longer reports incidents. “You can’t spend three hours every week reporting something that nothing happens with.”
At another address in Cuijk, the front door of a lesbian couple was recently defaced with dog poop.
Interest group Regenboograad is aware that people from the LGBTQIA+ community feel less safe in the town. Regenboograad is therefore launching a new brochure, aimed at LGBTQIA+ young people in secondary school. “It often starts and simmers with young people,” a spokesperson told the broadcaster.
The first copy of the brochure was presented to alderman Willy Hendriks-Van Haren. “This brochure is for everyone who struggles with questions about themselves, or simply wants to know where to go for a listening ear,” the alderman told Omroep Brabant. “It shows: you are not alone.”
