THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands woke up Thursday to a new star of right-wg populism, as the party of a Lat-quotg, philosophy-readg lawmaker surged past anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilrs — and all other policians — important lol electns. Thierry Bt's Fom for Democracy emerged om the sil to the Dutch polil mastream as the biggt wner natnwi electns that terme the makp of the parliament's upper hoe and also impact the aln ernment of Prime Mister Mark Rutte. "Today, we won the first major battle," Bt told his party fahful a jubilant victory speech after Wednday's vote. Bt, one of his party's two natnal lawmakers, ticks all the populist box, often railg agast what he lls an aloof ele of reer policians, amia and journalists as well as immigratn that he argu are unrmg a proud natn. Bt himself is a flamboyant 36-year-old who studied at the rpected Lein Universy and has built a tradnal elist image wh cricisms of morn art, whimsil turns of phras and a strong attachment to the Netherlands of old. His rume on the Dutch parliament's webse is head: "Flagship of the Renaissance Fleet." In keepg wh his refully cultivated highbrow image, Bt appeared to reference German philosopher Ge Hegel or Roman mythology by speakg about the "owl of Merva" his victory speech. The Dutch phrase was trendg on Twter Thursday morng. Wh most vot unted om Wednday's electns, Bt's party, which oppos mass migratn and legislatn aimed at tacklg climate change and has lled for a referendum on the untry's European Unn membership, was forest to surpass Rutte's nservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD. Dutch broadster RTL reported that Fom for Democracy had 14.5 percent of vot while the VVD had 13.9 percent. Bt appeared to take vot not only om three of the four parti that make up Rutte's lg aln, but also Wilrs and the left-wg Socialist Party. Wilrs' Party for Freedom polled 7 percent, down om 11.7 percent four years ago. Green Left, an environmental party, also ma strong gas. Unlike Wilrs, who speaks the blunt language of the Dutch workg class, Bt tak a lot more cu om the ede Pim Fortuyn, the Netherlands' first major populist. Fortuyn, a proudly gay, shaven-head amic-turned polician, broke a Dutch taboo by openly blamg immigrants for risg crime and cricizg Mlims for refg to adopt Dutch ways and fully tegrate. Fortuyn was shot and killed by an animal rights activist 2002 a polil assassatn that stunned the natn. Wilrs later filled the void left by Fortuyn and appealed to the mass wh his even more strint anti-Islam rhetoric, but he now appears to have been overtaken by Bt. Wilrs lled his party's performance "a limed loss," but add: "Of urse, we would have wanted more." Bt has urted ntroversy his brief polil reer. He was cricized for a reported meetg 2017 wh Amerin whe natnalist Jared Taylor and has been acced of racism — a charge he strongly ni. But his populary ntu to soar, wh Wednday's electn the highlight so far. "We are gog to start a renaissance which our self-nfince is rtored, which we n live safely a tsted environment, which the mocratic state is repaired and enomic and cultural dynamism n return," Bt said his victory speech.
Contents:
- THE MAN WHO TGHT DONALD TMP TO P GAY PEOPLE AGAST IMMIGRANTS
- EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS
- DUTCH POLICIANS, SOLDIERS AND CIZENS ARE HOLDG HANDS AS SHOW OF SOLIDARY FOR ATTACKED GAY UPLE
- DUTCH POLICIANS HOLD HANDS SOLIDARY WH GAY MUNY – VIO
THE MAN WHO TGHT DONALD TMP TO P GAY PEOPLE AGAST IMMIGRANTS
Geert Wilrs spent years argug that Islam threatened gay rights the untry that gave marriage equaly to the world. His party now leads polls upg Dutch electns, and his battle cry is beg pied by Donald Tmp and France's Mare Le Pen. * gay dutch politicians *
His ndidacy is beg watched as the next tt of the natnalist wave that drove Bra out of the EU and put Donald Tmp the Whe the race is also uniquely foced on gay rights, bee Wilrs has amed his csa agast Islam part as a fense of natnal valu the untry proud to have adopted the world’s first marriage equaly law and has remaed a lear on LGBT rights the years sce.
EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS
In the untry that first legalized gay marriage, the Dutch crown prcs has the right to marry a person of any genr whout givg up her right to the throne, the Prime Mister of the Netherlands said on Tuday. * gay dutch politicians *
And several more morate policians have echoed the msage that Mlim immigrants threaten gay people.
A 29-year-old named Abdi, who was born Somalia and fled the untry’s war 1991, said this foc on gay rights is jt one of the nstantly changg “l of tegratn” to Dutch society, which mak feel “impossible to tegrate to a society that do not accept your humany as a person of lor. )Wilrs’s profsed support of gay rights once put him out of step wh other natnalist policians the Wt, who generally have also been social nservativ. Policians are “g gay rights, as almost a [tra of] natnal inty, ” Suhonic said, but only when batg the place of “asylum-seekers and the immigrants.
DUTCH POLICIANS, SOLDIERS AND CIZENS ARE HOLDG HANDS AS SHOW OF SOLIDARY FOR ATTACKED GAY UPLE
* gay dutch politicians *
” It’s an attu Suhonic lls “homonatnalism.
DUTCH POLICIANS HOLD HANDS SOLIDARY WH GAY MUNY – VIO
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Netherlands woke up Thursday to a new star of right-wg populism, as the party of a Lat-quotg, philosophy-readg lawmaker surged past anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilrs — and all other policians — important lol electns. Thierry Bt's Fom for Democracy emerged om the sil to the Dutch polil mastream as the biggt wner natnwi electns that terme the makp of the parliament's upper hoe and also impact the aln ernment of Prime Mister Mark Rutte. "Today, we won the first major battle," Bt told his party fahful a jubilant victory speech after Wednday's vote. Bt, one of his party's two natnal lawmakers, ticks all the populist box, often railg agast what he lls an aloof ele of reer policians, amia and journalists as well as immigratn that he argu are unrmg a proud natn. Bt himself is a flamboyant 36-year-old who studied at the rpected Lein Universy and has built a tradnal elist image wh cricisms of morn art, whimsil turns of phras and a strong attachment to the Netherlands of old. His rume on the Dutch parliament's webse is head: "Flagship of the Renaissance Fleet." In keepg wh his refully cultivated highbrow image, Bt appeared to reference German philosopher Ge Hegel or Roman mythology by speakg about the "owl of Merva" his victory speech. The Dutch phrase was trendg on Twter Thursday morng. Wh most vot unted om Wednday's electns, Bt's party, which oppos mass migratn and legislatn aimed at tacklg climate change and has lled for a referendum on the untry's European Unn membership, was forest to surpass Rutte's nservative People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, or VVD. Dutch broadster RTL reported that Fom for Democracy had 14.5 percent of vot while the VVD had 13.9 percent. Bt appeared to take vot not only om three of the four parti that make up Rutte's lg aln, but also Wilrs and the left-wg Socialist Party. Wilrs' Party for Freedom polled 7 percent, down om 11.7 percent four years ago. Green Left, an environmental party, also ma strong gas. Unlike Wilrs, who speaks the blunt language of the Dutch workg class, Bt tak a lot more cu om the ede Pim Fortuyn, the Netherlands' first major populist. Fortuyn, a proudly gay, shaven-head amic-turned polician, broke a Dutch taboo by openly blamg immigrants for risg crime and cricizg Mlims for refg to adopt Dutch ways and fully tegrate. Fortuyn was shot and killed by an animal rights activist 2002 a polil assassatn that stunned the natn. Wilrs later filled the void left by Fortuyn and appealed to the mass wh his even more strint anti-Islam rhetoric, but he now appears to have been overtaken by Bt. Wilrs lled his party's performance "a limed loss," but add: "Of urse, we would have wanted more." Bt has urted ntroversy his brief polil reer. He was cricized for a reported meetg 2017 wh Amerin whe natnalist Jared Taylor and has been acced of racism — a charge he strongly ni. But his populary ntu to soar, wh Wednday's electn the highlight so far. "We are gog to start a renaissance which our self-nfince is rtored, which we n live safely a tsted environment, which the mocratic state is repaired and enomic and cultural dynamism n return," Bt said his victory speech. * gay dutch politicians *
”“The eedom that gay people should have — to kiss each other, to marry, to have children — is exactly what Islam is fightg agast, ” Wilrs told BuzzFeed News last June the wake of the attack on a gay club Orlando, addg that the shootg should force a reckong wh the fact “that we’ve imported so much Islam to the Wtern ee untri. " The next month, he brought this msage to the Republin Natnal Conventn, where he told a Gays for Tmp party, “Anywhere the Wt, if you allow Islam to be planted on your soil, don't be [surprised] that you will harvt Sharia law, bee Islam and Sharia law [are] exactly the same. But he has already won a major victory regardls of the electn oute: settg the terms of the bate about immigratn the Netherlands so fundamentally that other Dutch policians are pickg up his clus the current prime mister, Mark Rutte, of the right-leang VVD party, who amed his re-electn bid wh a letter published January clarg, “We are feelg a growg unease when people abe our eedom … [People who] harass gays, howl at women short skirts or acce ordary Dutch of beg racists...
”Tofik Dibi, a gay man who is the son of Morocn immigrants who was a member of the Dutch parliament om 2006 to 2012, often went toe to toe wh Wilrs on the floor of parliament. But many of the policians who are g to sound the alarm over immigratn, he said, “don’t give a fuck about gay rights. Dibi said they are also spic of immigrant attus toward Jews and women, but homosexualy was ually their go-to issue.
Five teens are alleged to have beaten two gay men who were holdg hands after a night out, promptg men across the Netherlands to lk digs solidary " name="scriptn * gay dutch politicians *
“Of all of the tts, the gay rights is the one that is ed the most bee they know that that’s the most difficult thg wh the muni, ” Dibi said.