Men all over The Netherlands are holding hands in solidarity with a gay couple who were viciously attacked over the weekend.
Gay couple Jasper Vernes-Sewratan and Ronnie Sewratan-Vernes were attacked by a group of six to eight men who saw them holding hands in the eastern city of Arnhem during the early hours of Sunday morning (April 2).
Ronnie lost four teeth after being beaten with a pair of bolt cutters, while Jasper suffered injuries to his chest, back and legs, RTL Nieuws reports.
The brutal homophobia attack has sparked outrage in The Netherlands, which became the first country in the world to legalise equal marriage back in 2001, and has been condemned by public including Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
Two leading politicians went one better on Monday, however, publicly holding hands as they arrived at talks on the formation of a new Dutch government in The Hague in solidarity with the couple.
Alexander Pechtold, leader of the liberal D66 party, arrived hand in hand with party colleague Wouter Koolmees, telling reporters: “We think it is quite normal in the Netherlands to express who you are.”
Proud of @APechtold @D66 for leading by example. We want a country where men can safely walk hand in hand #allemannenhandinhand pic.twitter.com/Srx9RGqmio — Lousewies v d Laan (@LousewiesvdLaan) April 3, 2017
The touching display came as the hashtag #allemannenhandinhand began spreading throughout The Netherlands, encouraging men to share pictures of themselves holding hands in support of Jasper and Ronnie.
A protest is also set to take place in Arnhem this weekend calling for an end to anti-gay violence and intimidation.
Images shared over the last 24 hours show men from all walks of life, gay and straight alike, proudly showing affection for one another to in public to show that homophobia will never win the day.
Alle mannen hand in hand, moet kunnen in ons mooie vrije land!!! #allemannenhandinhand A post shared by William Rutten (@williamrutten) on Apr 3, 2017 at 1:40am PDT
Hand in hand over straat moet kunnen! #laatelkaarmetrust A post shared by David Isaac Schell (@isaac_schell) on Apr 4, 2017 at 1:40am PDT
Boksen met de oude strijder #allemannenhandinhand #stopgeweldtegenhomos A post shared by Koen Weijland (@koenweijland) on Apr 3, 2017 at 1:27pm PDT
Wij doen mee! Stop geweld tegen homo’s. #allemannenhandinhand @barbarabarend A post shared by Wilco Berenschot (@wt_berenschot) on Apr 3, 2017 at 11:47am PDT
Docenten Hub van Doornecollege doen ook mee!! Stop geweld tegen homo’s. #allemannenhandinhand A post shared by Leerlingenraadhub (@leerlingenraadhub) on Apr 3, 2017 at 11:39am PDT
Wij doen mee! Stop geweld tegen homo’s. #allemannenhandinhand @barbarabarend #handinhand A post shared by GroenLinks Geldrop-Mierlo (@groenlinks_geldropmierlo) on Apr 3, 2017 at 11:37am PDT
#allemannenhandinhand #mannenhandinhand #gay #love #couple #dingen #homophobia A post shared by R. de Vries (@raidevries) on Apr 3, 2017 at 11:15am PDT
Ook wij lopen #handinhand: stop geweld tegen homo’s! #allemannenhandinhand A post shared by De Coen & Sander Show (@coenensander) on Apr 3, 2017 at 7:32am PDT
#Repost @rodekruis with @repostapp ・・・ Afgelopen weekend werden twee mannen die hand in hand liepen mishandeld. Stop zinloos geweld. Leve de liefde! #allemannenhandinhand #handinhand A post shared by Merlijn (@merlijnstoffels) on Apr 3, 2017 at 3:05pm PDT
Three teenagers aged 16, two aged 14 and one man aged 20 have been arrested in connection with the attack, and police are encouraging people with any information to come forward.
The editor of Attitude Holland, Martijn Tulp, praised the #allemannenhandinhand campaign for drawing attention to the incident, but stressed that politicians in The Netherlands need to do more as violence and intolerance against LGBT people increases in the country.
“It’s great to see pictures on social media, not just of politicians or celebrities, but anyone in general, of two men holding hands to show their support for this couple in Arnhem,” he said.
“Unfortunately this wasn’t just an isolated incident; just a day earlier two guys who had just left a gay bar in Eindhoven were also harassed and beaten, though luckily not resulting in any serious injuries.”
He continues: “It’s a bit disappointing to see how only this incident is getting so much attention in the media and even by our Minister for Education, Culture and Science, because this problem is a structural one.
“There are several reports of hate crimes in The Netherlands a year. Many of them don’t get as publicised. Our climate seems to slowly but surely become more and more intolerant and violent towards LGBT [people].”
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guendet on April 4th, 2017 at 17:41 UTC »
Time for Erdogan to call us nazis again
ImAWhiteKitty on April 4th, 2017 at 17:19 UTC »
I think the world be a better place in general if men held hands and skipped to work together.
WhatTheFuckSalami on April 4th, 2017 at 16:52 UTC »
Years ago on the road as a rock n roller, first time in NYC we hit insane traffic. No idea what's going on. Not moving at all for a long time. Shitty Van starts to overheat. Pull off. Get out.
We start walking all of a sudden everyone is walking it's pretty neat I think. Everyone is really happy. There's tons of people everywhere and not a car on the road. Cool first visit to NYC.
Then I realize. It's all dudes. In crazy clothes. They're mostly shredded and dancing to electronic music.
I'm in the midst of a gay pride parade.
Small town boy in me panics. "What do I do"
My band mate looks at me. I look at him.
He is similarly confused / panicked.
We do the only sensible thing two straight dudes on the road do in a situation like this:
We held each other's hands high and march the rest of the way with the parade.