COC calls upon the new Cabinet to introduce more intensive LGBT policies
06/07/2010
Submitted by
COC Netherlands
Dramatic Suicide Rates Among The LGBT Youth
COC calls upon the new Cabinet to introduce more intensive LGBT policies
Amsterdam, 24 June 2010
Young LGBT people are up to five times as likely to attempt suicide as their heterosexual peers, according to ‘More Normal, Never Normal’ - the periodic report of the Social and Cultural Research Agency (SCP) on LGBT emancipation in the Netherlands. Concerned, COC now calls upon the new government to finally address the emancipation of lesbians, gays, bi- and transsexuals as the pressing matter that it has always been.
The organisation claims that the development of a comprehensive LGBT Youth Suicide Prevention master policy would prove a substantial step in the right direction as, according to the SCP report, suicide rates amongst homosexual youngsters soar (half of them have considered suicide at one point or another and as much as 16% of the girls and 9% of the boys have ended up attempting it). With secondary schools not yet a safe space for LGBTs, anti-gay scolding and abuse continues to be a common occurrence.
No longer safe
LGBT emancipation is slowly stalling in other fields too, warns the report. Dutch citizens of Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and Chinese descent face severe personal issues within their families and communities; a quarter of all homosexual and bisexual men, regardless of age or ethnicity, feel less safe than a year ago and four out of ten women report having been verbally attacked on the basis of their sexual orientation. At the same time, 40% of Dutch citizens consider it offensive when two men kiss each other in public, yet only 13% express dislike of heterosexual couples doing the same.
Master policy on suicide prevention
In an open letter to informateur Rosenthal and leaders of the political parties of the Dutch parliament, COC Netherlands calls upon the new government to give high priority to the issue of LGBT emancipation. According The successful integration and acceptance of LGBT people is no less than a litmus test for an open and tolerant society, the oldest functioning gay-rights organisation in the world believes.
In its letter, COC together with MOVISIE and Schorer, presses for the development of a master policy on suicide prevention amongst LGBT youth, including a mandatory inclusion of homosexuality and gender identity in the school curriculum and an increase of sentences for discriminatory violence.
Positive developments
Still, according to the SCP, the government’s policies initiated by former Minister Plasterk, have had an immensely positive impact on LGBT integration, with the share of Dutch citizens claiming to accept homosexuality risen from 85 to 91% in the space of only a few years.
COC calls upon the new Cabinet to introduce more intensive LGBT policies
Amsterdam, 24 June 2010
Young LGBT people are up to five times as likely to attempt suicide as their heterosexual peers, according to ‘More Normal, Never Normal’ - the periodic report of the Social and Cultural Research Agency (SCP) on LGBT emancipation in the Netherlands. Concerned, COC now calls upon the new government to finally address the emancipation of lesbians, gays, bi- and transsexuals as the pressing matter that it has always been.
The organisation claims that the development of a comprehensive LGBT Youth Suicide Prevention master policy would prove a substantial step in the right direction as, according to the SCP report, suicide rates amongst homosexual youngsters soar (half of them have considered suicide at one point or another and as much as 16% of the girls and 9% of the boys have ended up attempting it). With secondary schools not yet a safe space for LGBTs, anti-gay scolding and abuse continues to be a common occurrence.
No longer safe
LGBT emancipation is slowly stalling in other fields too, warns the report. Dutch citizens of Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese and Chinese descent face severe personal issues within their families and communities; a quarter of all homosexual and bisexual men, regardless of age or ethnicity, feel less safe than a year ago and four out of ten women report having been verbally attacked on the basis of their sexual orientation. At the same time, 40% of Dutch citizens consider it offensive when two men kiss each other in public, yet only 13% express dislike of heterosexual couples doing the same.
Master policy on suicide prevention
In an open letter to informateur Rosenthal and leaders of the political parties of the Dutch parliament, COC Netherlands calls upon the new government to give high priority to the issue of LGBT emancipation. According The successful integration and acceptance of LGBT people is no less than a litmus test for an open and tolerant society, the oldest functioning gay-rights organisation in the world believes.
In its letter, COC together with MOVISIE and Schorer, presses for the development of a master policy on suicide prevention amongst LGBT youth, including a mandatory inclusion of homosexuality and gender identity in the school curriculum and an increase of sentences for discriminatory violence.
Positive developments
Still, according to the SCP, the government’s policies initiated by former Minister Plasterk, have had an immensely positive impact on LGBT integration, with the share of Dutch citizens claiming to accept homosexuality risen from 85 to 91% in the space of only a few years.
