Video: More than 70 report discrimination at the start of WorldPride in Amsterdam
Dozens of people reported discrimination during the start of WorldPride in Amsterdam on the weekend, according to Report It Always (RITA). RITA is a platform for the LGBTQIA+ community to report discrimination and violence. Amsterdam’s WorldPride opened against the backdrop of a deadly van attack at Berlin’s Pride celebration that killed one person and injured 29 others.
RITA normally receives a few reports per day, regional broadcaster NH reported. More than 70 reports of discrimination came in over the weekend.
Most discrimination reports came from festival-goers heading home from the Milkshake festival and from participants in the Pride Walk. RITA fears the reports received so far represent “only a fraction of the total.”
A RITA spokesperson told NOS that the high number of reports may stem from the organization’s greater visibility during Pride. In Amsterdam, so-called safer spaces have been set up in certain hotels, museums, and other public buildings where people can seek support or report incidents.
At Pride Amersfoort earlier this month, RITA received between 30 and 40 reports of incidents. After that event, a man was assaulted by several youths and left seriously injured. Police have not yet determined whether the attack was anti-LGBTQIA+ violence, but Pride Amersfoort’s chair said visitors remain deeply concerned.
Amsterdam’s annual Pride began July 8 and runs through July 29. WorldPride, an international event held every two years in a different world city, started Saturday and is being staged in the Netherlands for the first time.
Amsterdam’s WorldPride unfolded against the backdrop of a deadly van attack on Berlin’s Pride celebration late Saturday that killed one person and injured 29 others. German authorities said this was a terrorist attack by a 21-year-old Islamic State (IS) supporter. He was shot and killed by police the next day during an attempted arrest.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema described the news as “horrific” and “an attack on the freedom that we in Amsterdam also celebrate grandly these weeks.” After consulting police, prosecutors, and organizers, Halsema said extra security measures will be imposed.
