The Netherlands Move To Write LGBT+ Rights In Their Constitution
The Netherlands has passed a measure to add LGBT+ protections to the country’s constitution. The lower chamber of parliament passed the measure with a vote of 125 in favour and 26 against. The measure now moves to the country’s upper chamber for debate and voting.
“Today we are taking a big step towards anchoring our rights in the constitution,” Astrid Oosenbrug, chairperson of the Dutch LGBTQ+ organisation COC Netherlands, said.
As ‘Out’ reports, in the Netherlands the constitution already forbids discrimination based on race, gender and religious or political beliefs and Second Deputy Prime Minister Kajsa Ollongren reportedly confirmed that gender includes trans and intersex people.
If the measure also passes in the upper chamber of parliament the proposal will then be put to another vote, where at least two-thirds of both chambers must vote in favour.
Oosenbrug believes the vote in the lower chamber is “important for the future” and that it will serve “as a guarantee that we can still enjoy our hard-won rights in fifty or a hundred years.”
Read related myGwork articles here:
Netherlands Issues First Gender-Neutral Passport
LGBTQ+ History: The Story of Europe
Rainbow Map 2020: Make-Or-Break Moment For LGBT+ Rights In Europe
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