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Netherlands
Located in northern Europe, bounded by Belgium to the south, Germany to the west, and the North Sea on its coastline, the Netherlands are notable as being among the most socially progressive and gay-friendly nations in the world today. Indeed, from its very inception, this small country has been known for being far more tolerant and progressive than the majority of its European neighbors. The inhabitants of the Netherlands, the Dutch, are descended primarily from Germanic and a few Gallic tribes which inhabited the region in antiquity and were encountered by Julius Caesar during his campaigns in the area in the mid-first century BC. Chief among these were the Nervii, Frisii, and Batavii. Most likely these tribes had institutionalized homosexuality, and counted among their ranks women warriors who were akin to the Amazons of legend and were also often lesbian, as these practices were common among the other Gallic and Germanic peoples the Romans encountered. By 13 BC the territory of the Batavii had been annexed as the Roman province of Batavia, with the Batavii as allies of Rome, exempt from paying the taxes and tributes usually required of conquered peoples. Rome continued to control the area until the fourth century CE, when Batavia and most of Gaul were conquered by the Franks. After the reign of Charlemagne, the area came under the control of Burgundy before passing into the hands of first the Austrian and later, Spanish Hapsburgs. The history of the Netherlands as an independent nation began in 1568, when William I of Orange led a revolt against the Duke of Alva, who had been sent by Philip II of Spain to quell the beeldenstorm , a series of riots in which Dutch Calvinists stormed and smashed the images and statues in the country's Catholic churches. This began the Eighty Years' War for Dutch Independence, which reached its zenith in 1581 as the Dutch, under the Oath of Abjuration, proclaimed their independence from Spain and its king as the United Provinces, the most powerful of which being Holland, whose name is still colloquially and incorrectly applied to the Netherlands today. The cause of Dutch independence received substantial assistance from England under Elizabeth I. The Elizabethan poet and statesman Sir Philip Sidney died from a wound he suffered while assisting the Dutch in their struggle at the Battle of Zutphen in 1586. In 1648, under the Treaty of Munster, Spain formally recognized the independence of the Netherlands. By this time, the Dutch had become a significant naval and economic power, with colonies in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. They had also established their reputation as a more progressive and freer nation than the rest of Europe, having forgone the model of monarchy in favor of a republic. Many Calvinists and other Protestants, including the Pilgrims, came to the Netherlands to enjoy greater religious freedom, as did Jews fleeing the Inquisition. Ideas considered heretical in other parts of Europe were openly discussed here, including and most notably the Copernican model of the universe. As one historian has pointed out, this was largely due to the simple fact that as a mercantile people, the Dutch were far more concerned with the temporal matters of trade and economics than the spiritual matters which occupied the minds of their neighbors. The Dutch, however, were slow to match this social progressiveness where same-sex relations were concerned. Several records exist from the 17th and 18th centuries of men being beheaded, hanged, and even burned alive for having relations with other men, and at least one woman is said to have been pilloried for wearing men's clothes and living with another woman as her husband. The Dutch Republic's fortunes as a great power began to wane amid a series of four wars fought with its former allies, the English, beginning in 1652. These wars resulted in the loss of many of the nation's colonies, most notably New Amsterdam, and sanctions which hampered Dutch trade. The last of these wars, declared in retaliation for Dutch recognition of the independence of the American colonies, ended in 1784. A series of revolts began, which ended when French Republican troops invaded and established the short-lived Batavian Republic. Napoleon later annexed the Netherlands as the Kingdom of Holland, with his brother Louis as king, before finally making the country a part of the French Empire. Among the effects of this assimilation was the introduction of the Code Napoleon, which decriminalized homosexual acts. Another was the loss of the South African colonies, as the British seized them to prevent French control. A treaty signed at the Congress of Vienna re-established the Netherlands' independence as a monarchy, with control over Belgium. A revolt in 1830 gained the Belgians their independence from Dutch rule. A new constitution drafted in 1848 made the Netherlands a constitutional monarchy, with a democratic form of government and the monarch having limited powers. The Netherlands declared its neutrality in both World Wars, with Germany violating it on both occassions, - first in World War I as German troops took short-cuts through Dutch territory to invade Belgium, and again in World War II as the Nazis invaded and occupied the country. In addition to 120,000 of the country's 140,000 Jews, many Dutch homosexuals were also sent to concentration camps during the Nazi occupation. Many Dutch citizens who tried to help these people were also imprisoned and executed, while young Dutch men were conscripted into the Germany military and forced labor, sometimes literally off the street. The decades following the end of the Second World War saw the Netherlands begin to re-establish itself as a significant economic force on the European continent. They also saw the country make sweeping and innovative progressive reforms, not the least of which being in the area of gay rights. Gays and lesbians who still faced criminal prosecution in other parts of Europe as late as the 1980s could find safe haven in the Netherlands. The openness and tolerance in this country has made Dutch GLBT persons among the most visible in the world, with many entertainment celebrities and political figures being publicly out regarding their gayness to an extent not possible in most other countries. These include Pim Fortuyn, an openly gay Dutch politician assassinated in 2002. Ironically, Fortuyn was criticized as a racist for his opposition to Muslim immigration to the Netherlands, while his opposition was based on the refusal of Muslim immigrants to adopt the Dutch's culture of tolerance and equality for gays and women. Gay bars, social clubs, and bathhouses can be easily found in most any Dutch city. Even gay brothels operate in some locales, as the Dutch have long since decriminalized prositution as a pragmatic move. Gay adult film producer William Higgins operated a male brothel in Amsterdam for a time, before relocating to Prague in the Czech Republic. Numerous pride events are also held across the country, most notably Pride Amsterdam and Queeruption. Contrary to one of the classic arguments used by social, religious, and political conservatives against the legalization of drugs and prosititution and the expansion of gay rights, i.e. that such actions would increase the spread of AIDS, the Netherlands has an HIV infection rate of only 0.2%, with 17,000 people out of a population of over 16 million estimated to be living with HIV. This is in fact precisely because of the more open social climate in which the Dutch live. With little or no reason to remain in the closet, gay and bisexual men have easier access to AIDS/HIV information, assistance, and counseling. With the legalization of prostitution having put an end to the coercion and fear used by pimps in other countries, prostitutes can be more discrminating in their clients, refuse to perform unsafe sex, and seek medical and legal help without fear of repercussion. IV drug users can obtain clean, sterile needles in government regulated drug supply shops and seek drug rehabilitation without fear of arrest. In a climate with less fear and intolerance, people have less reason to not seek information and help in preventing and treating AIDS. The Netherlands continues to make progress in the area of gay rights at a rate that far outpaces most of the rest of the world. In 2001 the Netherlands gave legal recognition to same-sex marriages, having already granted registered partnerships to gay and lesbian couples in 1998. External Links: Lesbian and Gay Movement in the Netherlands
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