Date: Mon, 27 Mar 1995 00:20:17 +0200
From: berts@xs4all.nl (Bert Schuur)

The Hague gets its Homoville

Holland's political centre the Hague intends to pay tribute to
5 Dutch fighters for the emancipation of gays and lesbians by
naming streets after them. The streets will be part of a small
new housing development, already informally dubbed "homoville".
The streets on the estate will among others be given the names
of the writers Anna Blaman and Til Brugman, pioneer gay acti-
vist Jacob Schorer and doctor Aletrino, who together with Scho-
rer played a major role in the pre-war "Nederlands Humanitair
Wetenschappelijk Kommitee", the first organised attempt to
improve rights for gays and lesbians.


Gay station gets Radio award

MVS-radio ("Man/Vrouw Sexualiteit" or "Man/Woman sexuality"),
which has been serving the gay community via radio in and arou-
nd Amsterdam for more than 10 years, has received an award from
SALTO, the holder of the broadcasting license for Amsterdam's 6
radio and 2 television stations. The award was in recognition
of MVS's policy of not copying formats used by national broad-
casters but instead focusing on the need for information within
Amsterdam's gay community. According to Michiel van der Voort,
head of MVS, the prize shows that SALTO is serious about its
policy to support local programming that is both aimed at spe-
cific sections of the population and at the same time is easily
accessible to a large audience. The award consists of DFL
5000,- (some US$ 3200,-). The money will possibly be spent on a
mobile radio transmitter making live broadcasts from the st-
reets possible. MVS programmes are currently broadcast daily
from 18.00-21.00 in the Amsterdam area. On sundays MVS carries
English programming.


Pointers for a stay in Amsterdam..

Amsterdam's gay scene may to some seem to consist only of bars
and discos full of young Adonises (or those who think they are)
with music so loud you can't hear yourself think. But there is
a different side to the scene. Nearly 15 years ago a group of
elderly gays involved with the "Roze Rimpel" ("the pink wrin-
kle"), an organisation aimed at the elderly gay and lesbian
took up the idea of creating a place where elderly gays could
feel at home. Thus began the "ZondagMiddag Salon" at the COC in
Amsterdam. Although people of all ages are wellcome, music
(both taste and volume) and the activities that are organised
cater especially to the tastes and interests of the elderly,
who grew up in a time when in Holland there was a strong social
stigma on homosexuality and discriminating age of consent laws
(also known as "a blackmailer's charter") were still in place.
Some 20 volunteers from all age groups and all walks of life
runs the ZMS which takes place every sunday from 15:00 at the
COC, Rozenstraat 14 in Amsterdam. There are regular activities
of interest to the elderly like a forum discussion, a perfor-
mance by a choir or musical group, a sing-along afternoon or a
political debate on the position of gays and lesbians whenever
an election is due. So, if you're not into the scene, or if you
are but want to meet different people, why not pop 'round this
summer.


Love from Holland,

Bert Schuur