Pride is not a parade of frivolity. It’s never been just a splash of rainbow across campus lawns. Pride is a rebelious act—an embodied, unapologetic assertion that LGBTQIA+ lives are valuable, visible, and here to stay. While our university strives to be an accommodating and supportive environment, making our campus a true safe space and a home for all, the very act of celebrating Pride here extends far beyond our campus borders. The university become a beacon for those who cannot yet stand up on their own, a testament to what is possible when a community truly embraces its diverse members.
Pride Began as Protest—and Must Stay That Way
The Stonewall uprising in June 1969 wasn’t a block party. It was a furious shove back against state violence. Pride was forged in protest, and that legacy, that raw, unyielding grit, is not something we can afford to forget.
Many will tell you the Netherlands is "safely progressive." Yet, Bloomberg reports a shocking 25% surge in hate crimes in a single year, 2024. Rainbow flags are ripped down. Same-sex couples are harassed. Students, right here, face open hostility and verbal abuse for wearing a rainbow band. Beyond our borders, Pride parades are banned in Hungary; “LGBT-free zones” are declared in Poland. And USA cracks down on accessible healthcare for our most vulnurable individuals. When we reduce Pride to mere entertainment, we hand the microphone back to those who would silence us.
Solidarity Doesn’t Happen by Itself
Turning a dream into a movement demands alliances and painstaking logistics. Our university's accommodation provides a vital foundation, but the true strength comes from the collaborative spirit that builds upon it. All associations, together. In a framework. They teach us that visibility isn’t handed out. It’s built, painstakingly, but always together. Because we are everywhere, in every association and every step of life.
YET DEFIANCE DOES NOT OMMIT Celebration
Protest without joy is a form of mourning. And we refuse to mourn ourselves into oblivion. Dancing beneath rainbow lights, laughing with strangers, kissing freely in public—these are profound acts of rebellion and community building. They scream: we refuse to live in fear. We refuse to live in shame. The beat that drops after the speeches? That’s the pulsing heart of survival, the rhythm of a community refusing to be silenced.
Pride Is Our Promise
Until every queer person on this campus and beyond —and indeed, far beyond—can study, speak, walk, kiss, and dance without fear or apology, Pride must remain what it was always meant to be: a celebration born of protest, and a protest carried forward in joyous, defiant celebration. It is our promise that we will never go back into the shadows, and that this campus will continue to be a vibrant, welcoming home for all.
