Rainbow staircase in Brabant defaced with homophobic slurs

A new staircase in Brabant was painted in the colours of the rainbow last Tuesday, in celebration of National Coming Out day. Unfortunately, it has also been spray-painted in hate speech. 

The staircase in Cuijk, Brabant, was the target of a homophobic attack, in which perpetrators left phrases such as ‘cancer gays’ and even painted a swastika over the rainbow, reports NU.nl

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And while you may be thinking: “isn’t the Netherlands very progressive when it comes to gay people?” 

Well, yes, in some ways, but incidents like this prove that homophobia is alive and well and more needs to be done to combat such hostile mindsets.

Coming Out Day 🌈

As Coming Out Day fell on Tuesday 11, October, there were hundreds of events around the Netherlands to celebrate this milestone in many queer people’s lives. 

READ MORE | Even in Amsterdam: homophobes shoot gel gun at people sitting on gay bar’s terrace

But, it seems the day of pride has been overshadowed in Brabant by this incident. 

Translation: On Coming-Out Day we paid attention to ‘coming out’. With the help of students from the Merlet College, a staircase at the Maaskade in Cuijk has been painted in rainbow colours. Different generations shared the experience of their coming out. Look at: https://bit.ly/3Mx4J9h

Volunteers are now forced to paint over the hate speech, instead of being able to enjoy what should have been a happy, colourful installation in the city. 😥

What do you think of this incident? Tell us your thoughts in a comment below!

Feature Image:Depositphotos
Heather Slevin
Heather Slevin
Heather is a Dublin native, addicted to catching the Luas, the Irish version of a tram, for one stop, and well used to the constant rain and shine. Seeking to swap one concrete city for another (with a few more canals and a friendlier attitude to cyclists) here she is with the Dutch Review! As a Creative Writing student, she can usually be found sweating over the complicated formatting of her latest poem or deep inside the pages of a book, and loves writing, writing, writing.

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