Dutch LGBT groups, abortion advocates fear Trump election is a threat to progress

The COC, an organization that fights for LGBTQ rights, has said that the news that Donald Trump is likely to be elected president of the United States will be bad news for the country’s rainbow community and all other groups that deal with discrimination. Other groups advocating for Transgender rights, the right to an abortion, and anti-racism groups have also spoken about the damage that the election results will have.

“Trump will end policies that protect people from discrimination. That is very threatening,” a spokesperson for the organization said. He fears that the care for transgender people will be revoked and that they will no longer be allowed to serve in the military.

He added that Trump’s presidency will not only have an adverse effect on the rainbow community. “Trump also wants to deny women the right to control their own bodies. And the worst news of all is that the Senate will no longer stand in his way."

The Republicans seem to have won a majority in the Senate in the elections on Tuesday. It is not yet known who will get the majority in the House of Representatives, but it could also remain in Republican hands. With that, Trump would have the entire Congress behind him.

“And one more thing: the US was always an ally as financial and diplomatic support in other countries, like Uganda. That support will also disappear under Trump,” said the COC spokesperson. Uganda has one of the strictest anti-gay laws in the world. There is even a death penalty for some sexual acts between people of the same gender.

Transgender Netwerk, a Dutch advocacy group for gender-diverse people, expressed their support for the transgender community in the US. The organization’s chair, Remke Verdegem, said that Trump spreads “dangerous misinformation and conspiracy theories about transgender people. According to the advocacy group, "this form of scapegoat politics" is also spreading to the Netherlands.

One prominent equality activist in the Netherlands argued that Trump’s victory will encourage minority groups to take action. The fight against injustice in the United States, but also in the rest of the world, will receive a “huge boost” from the Republicans' election win, said Jerry Afriyie, who leads Nederland Wordt Beter, the organization behind Kick Out Zwarte Piet (KOZP).

“The positive in all this is that it will activate people,” said Afriyie about the election results. “Minorities are going to fight for the rights that have been taken from them. They are going to watch how the world changes, the new generation is done talking.”

Afriyie added that Trump is going to do very little for minorities. He also thinks that Geert Wilders, the leader of the largest right-wing party in the Netherlands, the PVV, will be emboldened in his ideas due to the election results. "It will also make people who are in trouble here more combative," he thinks.

Trump’s victory was described as a “black day for women’s rights in America” by abortion activist Rebecca Gomperts. She founded the American organization Aid Access.

Gomperts added that she is interested to see whether the abortion pill will now be taken off the market. But, her organization has a plan to combat this. "American women can get the pill through the mail from outside, through underground networks, or with other medications that also work. Fortunately, women in America can then still have access to the abortion pill. Everything is done under the supervision of doctors."