Amsterdam: Europe's gay mecca.

The gay and lesbian capital of Europe, Amsterdam has a long history of tolerance. At the center of commerce and transport for centuries, Amsterdammers have developed a practical laissez-faire attitude that has helped them prosper in the face of great diversity and change.

As early as the 14th century, Amsterdammers were turning a near profit on their famous beer, the beverage of choice in a time before water filters. It was Amsterdam that opened its doors to the Sephardic Jews fleeing persecution in Spain and Portugal during the 16th century. These industrious people brought with them another building block of Amsterdam's prosperity: the diamond industry.

The 17th century--the Golden Age of the Netherlands--saw Amsterdam's influence reaching as far as Indonesia, South Africa, and China through the importing efforts of the Dutch East India Company. To aid merchants in transporting and warehousing goods, the city began construction of its famous canals. The following 200 years saw Amsterdam riding the waves of the Industrial Revolution. In this century, Amsterdam has weathered two world wars. Although the Netherlands remained neutral during the first world war, the Dutch didn't escape the hardship of food shortages. During World War II, Amsterdam suffered the horrors of Nazi rule. Some Dutch will tell you that apathy, greed, and even early Nazi sympathy led to the deaths of two thirds of Amsterdam's Jewish population, but there was also a strong resistance movement, which included homosexuals, commemorated by a number of monuments and museums around the city. Visitors can see the rooms where the young Anne Frank, in hiding from the Nazis, penned her poignant diary. In 1987, the city unveiled the Homomonument, a sculptural tribute to gays killed by the Nazis and to all who suffer oppression because of their sexual orientation.

When it came to fighting the AIDS crisis, no one was surprised to find that Amsterdam again led the way with comprehensive safer-sex education from grade school up. Safer-sex parties are funded by the government, and back rooms and saunas are liberally stocked with condoms.

Gay Amsterdam

Amsterdam is without a doubt the gay capital of Europe--and not just on Queen's Day! If you're coming from one of the less tolerant parts of the United States, you'll find the supportive atmosphere refreshing.

On the whole, gay men and lesbians enjoy great acceptance in the Nether lands. Homosexuality was decriminalized in 1811 (yes, 1811). While Americans are rightfully proud of Stonewall, Dutch queers are quick to remind visitors that Amsterdam has had a vital gay culture with bars and other meeting places since the early part of this century. One of the city's most famous gay nightspots, 't Mandje, owned by Dutch lesbian foremother Bet van Beeren, opened its doors in 1927.

The watershed in Amsterdam came in 1955, over a decade before Stonewall, when the first gay hotels and many famous cafes and bars opened. The DOK (De Odeon Keller) at Singel 460 became, arguably, the best-known gay disco in the pre-Stonewall world. The COC--a gay support organization founded in 1949--was sponsoring dance nights too that were just as popular with Amsterdammers then as they are today. The notorious Amsterdam leather scene also took off in the '50s at Hotel Tiemersma, a converted cigar shop at Warmoesstraat 20. By the '60s, the business had expanded to include the famous Argos bar, which marked a shift toward the new ultramasculine gay aesthetic.

But Amsterdam's gay history isn't all about bars. The Dutch government's response to the AIDS crisis serves as a model for other nations. Today, the state recognizes domestic partners and extends many benefits to them that queer Americans still dream of. In 1993, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in job hiring became illegal. At this writing, the fight for total access to social programs continues, but a positive outcome seems likely. Maybe that's why, according to some estimates, 20% to 30% of the population of Amsterdam is queer.

Lesbian Amsterdam

Amsterdam has a colorful lesbian past. Way back in 1792, the jealous, murderous Barth Schuurman was hung from the gallows for knifing her girlfriend's lover to death. In the 1970s, lesbian activists--in between scrawling pro-dyke graffiti--did manage to squat a few places and start some women's collectives. In fact, many of the women's bars and bookstores around today emerged from that era. And don't forget legendary Dutch singer Mathilde Santing (often spotted at the Saarein, the women-only bar) or the leather-clad "Queen of the Zeedijk" Bet van Beeren, who was roaring up and down the Red Light District picking up babes and doing her bit for the lesbian movement long before the Dykes on Bikes got their training wheels.

While Amsterdam may be the gay capital of Europe, lesbian visitors may be disappointed by the relative lack of women-oriented businesses and resources. For whatever reason, Amsterdam's women's community isn't very visible, with only a handful of bars and bookstores, and on the whole the women appear less politically engaged than elsewhere. The sexually adventurous dyke nightlife of San Francisco or New York is less obvious in Amsterdam. As a consequence, it can be very difficult for visitors to meet Dutch dykes. Expatriate North Americans, however, may be eager to find out what's going on back home.

Only a few of the less macho men's bars welcome women, but the city's famous tolerance extends to lesbians as well as gay men, so don't be shy about exploring.

You may be tempted to enjoy the freedom of Amsterdam by engaging in some public displays of affection. While women holding hands isn't: frowned on by hetero society, Dutch dykes often joke that they can spot American lesbians by the way they "cling" to each other in public. They tend to see handholding as a sign of insecurity or possessiveness, so you won't see many Dutch women holding hands in bars.

From Damron Amsterdam, [C] 1998 by the Damron Company. Reprinted with permission of the publisher, The Damron Company.