We are cautiously optimistic about the policy proposal. It seems to officially break the monopoly on Pride in Amsterdam. One of the reasons Queer Amsterdam was created was to ensure a diverse Pride in Amsterdam and this necessity now also seems to be felt by the city council. We happily facilitated the Queer Amsterdam edition in 2023 and are looking forward to the upcoming edition of Queer Amsterdam from July 3 to August 4. In doing so, we are happy that our existence has (partly) encouraged the municipality to actually change its policy.
Under this new policy there are great opportunities for a more beautiful Pride. It creates the possibility and freedom for a Pride that truly belongs to everyone in the community. Now the task is up to the municipality to truly ensure that Pride in 2025 is accessible to all. We will be watching closely next year to see if and how the city council will support all organizations to achieve this.Â
After all, Pride began as a protest and has lost this identity over the years. This policy makes room for that again. Pride is nothing without activities that support and (try to) improve the lives of LGBTQIAP+ individuals. Queer Amsterdam will make that even more visible during Pride 2024 with our core values: Resisting, Recharging, Reinventing. We support and stand side by side with community members in our collective fight for a better future.
This year, we have already chosen to extend Pride to a month and include the Queer Amsterdam week of Queer & Pride in this. The reason we are doing this is to make sure we can create more places for different activities by and from the community, and we are happy that the municipality is following and supporting us in this.
