Gay men Jasper Vernes-Sewratan and Ronnie Sewratan-Verne were holding hands when they were suddenly attacked in Arnhem, Netherlands, Sunday morning and viciously beaten. Now, in response, the Dutch are standing up to anti-LGBTQ violence by taking pictures of themselves holding hands.
The protest began after Dutch journalist Barbara Berend posted a call to action on Twitter with the hashtag #allemannenhandinhand (or #allmenhandinhand), asking men to post photos holding hands with one another to fight back against LGBTQ-targeted violence.
Bij deze een oproep aan heel Nederland, ga de challenge aan en stuur je foto! #allemannenhandinhand @DaanVerhoeven pic.twitter.com/fNG4PhPPaa
— Barbara Barend (@barbarabarend) April 3, 2017
Soon, Democrats 66 Party members Alexander Pechtold and Wouter Koolmees posted a photo on Twitter holding hands with one another, followed shortly by Labour party member Ahmed Marcouch posting a photo of himself holding hands with a group of Dutch men. The trend quickly spread, from the N.E.C. Nijmegen soccer club to a group of young students holding hands.
Wij doen mee! Stop geweld tegen homo's. #allemannenhandinhand @barbarabarend pic.twitter.com/zsLY7Z0SqM
— Alexander Pechtold (@APechtold) April 3, 2017
#handinhand voor homo's en #schouderaanschouder tegen discriminatie als misdrijf. Samen voor vrijheid, gelijkheid en broederschap; pic.twitter.com/rbZFBxH9mZ
— Ahmed Marcouch (@ahmedmarcouch) April 3, 2017
N.E.C. keert geweld tegen homo's de rug toe. #allemannenhandinhand #handinhand @3FM pic.twitter.com/ADxjti0iMO
— N.E.C. Nijmegen (@necnijmegen) April 3, 2017
The movement is starting to spread outside of the Netherlands, too. Men working at the Netherlands Mission at the United Nations walked hand-in-hand together throughout Manhattan. Colleagues at the Netherlands embassy in Athens also posted a photo holding hands, along with Dutch embassy workers in London.
Male colleagues of @NLatUN walking hand in hand in New York protesting against violence directed at LGBTI #allemannenhandinhand pic.twitter.com/AYThVsymep
— Lise Gregoire-van Haaren (@LiseGvH) April 3, 2017
Male colleagues from the Dutch Embassy London holding hands in protest against violence towards the LGBTQIA community. #allemannenhandinhand pic.twitter.com/Bp6Mz6UiyY
— Netherlands Embassy 🇬🇧 (@NLinUK) April 4, 2017
Violence against LGBTQ people is still a major problem throughout the world. Just this week, 100 gay men were allegedly rounded up and detained in Chechnya, and three killed; earlier this year, two transgender women from Pakistan were tortured and killed by Saudi police. In the U.S., a study from California State University found hate crimes went up throughout 2016, with LGBTQ-targeted violence contributing to most of the growth.