Amsterdam hosts WorldPride canal parade with focus on equal rights
Boats, placards and large crowds filled Amsterdam’s canals as participants called for inclusion and reflected on the deadly Berlin Pride attack.
- Amsterdam's WorldPride canal parade proceeded with heightened security following a deadly attack at Berlin Pride one week prior.
- Organizers and participants viewed the event as both a celebration and a protest, with the focus on equal rights feeling more urgent due to the recent violence.
- The parade featured boats with political messages and slogans advocating for equality, such as “Same Love. Same Rights!”.
- The event was selected as this year's WorldPride to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Amsterdam hosting the world's first legally recognized same-sex marriage.
Additional security accompanied Amsterdam’s WorldPride canal parade on Saturday (August 1), as hundreds of thousands of people gathered one week after a deadly attack at Berlin Pride.
Organisers and participants regarded the event as both a celebration and a protest whose purpose had become more pressing following the violence in Germany.
One person was killed, and more than 30 others were injured in Berlin when a van was driven into a crowd.
German police later shot dead the suspect.
In response, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema announced further security precautions without specifying what they would involve.
Police were visible throughout Amsterdam during the parade, patrolling by bicycle, jet ski, boat and car.
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, the Netherlands’ first openly gay prime minister, also attended, and the event passed off safely.
Martijn Albers, a spokesperson for Amsterdam Pride, maintained that the additional protection would not alter the event’s emphasis on inclusion.
“The aim of terrorism is to spread fear, and we must not give in to that,” Albers said.
Away from the security operation, scores of boats decorated with rainbow flags and balloons travelled along the canals.
Large crowds wearing colourful outfits packed the banks and cheered as the vessels passed.
Messages displayed during the parade included “Same Love. Same Rights!” and “Make America Gay Again”.
One boat carried two tube figures resembling Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, both dressed in traditional Dutch clothing and positioned as though they were kissing.
The canal parade is the annual centrepiece of Amsterdam Pride.
Pride organisers selected the city to host this year’s WorldPride as Amsterdam marks 25 years since it hosted the world’s first legally recognised same-sex marriage.
The two-week programme across the Netherlands is being held under the slogan “UNITY”.
Tim Cox, 55, accepted the increased police presence but regretted that such measures had become necessary.
“The extra police doesn’t bother me at all, it is just a shame that this is necessary,” he said, adding that everybody should be accepted as they are.
For Tré Shawn Griffin, the Berlin attack strengthened his determination to join the parade.
The 32-year-old American, who has lived in the Netherlands for several years, rejected the idea of becoming less visible because of intimidation.
“People try to intimidate you, want you to run away and hide. You want me to hide? I’m going to come out even louder,” Griffin said.
Julianne van der Heide, 25, who was aboard one of the boats, described the Berlin violence as proof of “how important and necessary Pride still is to this day”.
The parade followed a memorial ceremony held on Tuesday at Amsterdam’s Homomonument, where thousands of people laid flowers for the victims of the Berlin attack.
The canalside monument, formed from pink granite triangles, commemorates victims of anti-gay oppression.
Caspar Pisters of the Dutch HIV Association believed the events in Berlin would remain at the back of participants’ minds.
“As long as there are people, there will be LGBTQ+ people, and no amount of violence, not even a million bombs, can change that,” Pisters said.
Source: Reuters
