Amsterdam Pride was on the weekend, and while the event preached inclusivity, acceptance, and self-identity, it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. Multiple people have come out since the weekend event detailing attacks and verbal abuse.
For many, Pride weekend was all confetti, glitter, and stacks of colour. But for 29-year-old Katya Sazanova and Ana Camboim the day is associated with fear. The lesbian expat couple were holding hands at 5:00am while walking down Zandstraat, a narrow alley near Zuiderkerk, Het Parool reports.
“Can we join you?”
“Oh, you are so hot, can we join you?” shouted one of two men on a black scooter. “Go on, just drive on,” Camboin replied. But the men attacked instead.
Camboin received a blow to her face, sending her to the ground, while Sazanova was also hit in the face. The women were traumatised by the assault, walking away with bruises, a broken lip and a swollen nose.
Dit is dieptriest ?‼️
Hopelijk heeft iemand iets gezien en worden de daders (meestal weet de politie waar zij moet zoeken) toch nog gepakt.
Dit mag nooit weer gebeurenLesbisch koppel tijdens Pride in elkaar geslagen: ‘We hebben geluk gehad’ https://t.co/JTyMWMCkfu via @parool
— ?? ?? Karl-Gerhard ?? (@linge_karl) August 6, 2019
“It was so frightening. At home we only cried. People sometimes look up when we hold hands, but people have never been physical”, Sazanova told Het Parool.
“My girlfriend is from Brazil and I from Kazakhstan. We might expect something like this in our own countries, but not in Amsterdam. And then it also happened during Pride.”
The women reported the crime to Pink in Blue, the anti-gay violence police department. However, it is unlikely their perpetrators will be caught.
Spat on by an Uber driver
For Luke and his boyfriend, taking an Uber after Pride led to their own trauma. The couple entered the Uber around 8:30pm on the Saturday night, held each others hands in the backseat, and gave each other a kiss, writes NH Nieuws.
“Like any normal couple would do. This is Amsterdam, that’s no problem, we thought,” said Luke. But the driver lashed out, calling them “kankerhomos” (cancer-homo’s) and told them to opkankeren (piss-off).
Just last week Uber implemented a new Discrimination button on the app after an Amsterdam drag queen was refused a ride by an Uber.
Uber said in a statement that they regret the incident. “We … take this complaint extremely seriously and are investigating this incident so that we can take appropriate action. “
However, Luke says Uber still hasn’t been in direct contact. “They say they take the matter extremely seriously, but they never called back. I can’t believe they take this seriously as long as this driver drives around before them.”
Feature Image: Samantha Dixon
The LGBTI community in the Netherlands have been saying for years that the situation regarding their safety is deteriorating steadily. I wouldn’t hold hands in Amsterdam anymore – it’s simply asking for trouble. The world has become more polarised on such issues of equality and Amsterdam (for example) is not immune from that. Many people are defiant, now, in their non-acceptance (to the point of violence) of diversity – and we have to be honest that certain communities are suffering more from such a resistance to progress.