Dutch parliament votes 90 to 36 to fly rainbow flag on Coming Out Day

The vote

On Thursday evening, 8 October, the Tweede Kamer voted 90 to 36 in favour of hoisting the rainbow flag on its building this Sunday, Coming Out Day. The motion was filed by Kati Piri of the PRO party, and the SGP forced a roll-call vote so that each member had to state a position individually rather than by faction. Telegraaf reported that the roll call had been requested for 8pm, and many members who had already gone home were called back to The Hague. Volkskrant put the vote at around 11pm and noted that JA21 was absent. Most outlets report 36 votes against, but AD reported 34, so the exact count differs between sources.

How the presidium reversed course

The request came from a network of civil servants in The Hague, the regenboognetwerk van Haagse ambtenaren, who asked Chamber chairman Thom van Campen to hoist the flag. According to RTL Nieuws, the presidium, the Chamber's daily board, first agreed but later backed away after small Christian parties, led by the SGP, objected that parliament itself should decide. NOS reported that the presidium consists only of the larger parties, though the intention is that the views of smaller parties are taken into account. PRO, Partij voor de Dieren, 50Plus and Volt then filed a motion to overturn the presidium decision. Volkskrant reported that PRO added the motion to a list of Foreign Affairs motions, arguing that Coming Out Day is an international event, and that the Chamber never meets on Fridays, which made the timing tight.

Reactions in the chamber

Prime Minister Rob Jetten said the debate was 'jammer' and called the flag a 'mooie steun in de rug' for the LHBTIQA+ community. He added:

It would have been even nicer if that had been radiated with full conviction.

SGP member Diederik van Dijk gave the party's reasoning.

The rainbow flag is not a national flag but a flag of interest groups that has grown into a symbol of activism.

ChristenUnie member Pieter Grinwis supported the motion to show support for the people concerned, but Trouw reported that he called the vote 'treurig, potsierlijk en bizar'.

The hoisting of the rainbow flag has been made political. The Chamber building is moreover not there for activist flag displays.

State secretary Judith Tielen, responsible for emancipation, called the affair a 'gedoetje' and said it was not strange for a rainbow flag to hang at a building where the people are represented.

Youth acceptance and the debate

Volkskrant linked the flag vote to declining acceptance of LHBTI people among young people, reporting that 22% of boys and 51% of girls aged 12 to 16 have a positive attitude toward homosexuality. Earlier AD coverage said schools see more resistance around Paarse Vrijdag, with posters being vandalised and pupils making remarks about identity. Coming Out Day dates back to 1988 in the United States, and Volkskrant reported that many Dutch organisations, companies and ministries fly the rainbow flag on 11 October. NOS noted that the Ukrainian flag was hoisted on the Chamber building on 24 February 2024, two years after the Russian invasion.

What happens next

The rainbow flag is due to be raised on Sunday, 11 October, but Kamervoorzitter Van Campen has not yet decided whether he will attend or how the hoisting will take place, saying only that the flag will 'fier in de nok wapperen'. Piri said she is pleased with the majority backing and argued that the flag belongs at the Chamber as it does on government buildings across the country.

On all government buildings the flag flies, so it belongs here too, in the house of democracy.

Tielen rejected the argument that the flag would open the door to more flags, saying the Chamber is able to weigh each case anew.

In debate training we call that a fallacy. The Tweede Kamer is perfectly capable of weighing the matter each time anew, but the rainbow flag is an important symbol of equality.