LGBTQIA+ people feel most unsafe on the street, nightlife, and public transport
People from the LGBTQIA+ community feel unsafe in many places in the Netherlands. They fear threats and violence the most on the streets, in the nightlife, and on public transport, Pointer and AD found in a survey of over 3,600 people from the community. Almost a quarter avoid going to the gym or sports school because they don’t feel safe.
Some places are experienced as unsafe by almost everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community, such as heterosexual nightclubs or bars. Many have faced insults, threats, or even violence in these locations. Lesbian and bisexual women often experience sexualization in straight clubs.
“If I go out and kiss a girl, a group of guys quickly circles us like sharks. Most find it exciting to see two women kissing and would love to have a freesome,” a woman told Pointer.
“I’ve been called ‘cancer gay’ and all the other related insults you can think of several times,” a gay man told the program. “I also often get drinks thrown at me, or people constantly touch me.”
Other locations are experienced as unsafe by only part of the community. Transgender, intersex, and non-binary people feel much less safe in public bathrooms than lesbian women, gay men, or bisexual people, for example.
“I find the restrooms the worst place in terms of safety, because I always feel judged there,” a trans boy told Pointer. “Before, when I still went to the women’s restroom, I would get strange looks. I was even told once that I didn’t belong there. Now that I go to the men’s restroom, it’s much better, but I still see people staring a lot. At my high school, where I was still seen as a girl, I found it so annoying to go to he restroom that I didn’t go all day until I got home, even if I really had to pee.”
The gym is also an unsafe place for many trans people. “In a gym. The ideal image of how you should look is exaggerated. That makes me feel unsafe going there. I don’t fit that mold,” a trans man told AD. He also doesn’t enjoy the atmosphere. “The atmosphere of men among themselves, the jokes about homosexuality…”
“You don’t know how someone will react. I feel most vulnerable here. You can’t hide much,” another trans man told the newspaper about the gym. “I don’t look like a stereotypical woman. I have short hair and often wear men’s clothes because I identify as male. I haven’t transitioned yet, so it’s difficult to go to the locker rooms. I get looked at strangely by both men and women.”
Pointer and AD surveyed over 3,600 people from the LGBTQIA+ community. 1,398 said they feel most unsafe on the street, 681 said the nightlife, and 382 said public transport. 145 people feel unsafe at school, and 127 in their own neighborhood.
