LGBT Rights are more Important than Democracy for most Dutch Political Parties

In March, a member of the Dutch Parliament from the Soros-backed Volt party, invited the political parties represented in the Second Chamber to sign the following open letter to the Hungarian ambassador in the Netherlands.

A majority of parties agreed to sign it.

Your Excellency,

I am writing to you on behalf of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands to express our deepest concern and strongest condemnation regarding the recent developments in Hungary concerning the rights of the LGBTQI+ community.

We have recently learned that the Hungarian Parliament has passed a law effectively banning Pride marches in your country. This law not only violates fundamental human rights and freedoms enshrined in international treaties, such as the right to freedom of assembly and expression, but also undermines the core values of the European Union. The European Union is founded on the principles of respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. These values are enshrined in the Treaty on European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. By restricting the rights of the LGBTQI+ community, Hungary is violating these fundamental European values and jeopardizing the unity and integrity of the Union.

The House of Representatives of the Netherlands is convinced that the protection and promotion of the rights of all citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, is crucial for a democratic and just society. We therefore urge you to immediately repeal this law and ensure that the rights of the LGBTQI+ community in Hungary are respected and protected.

We stand in solidarity with the LGBTQI+ community in Hungary and will continue to support their struggle for equality and justice. We hope that the Hungarian government will align itself with these international norms and values and take steps to guarantee the rights of all citizens.

Yours sincerely,

A week or so later, FVD MP Pepijn van Houwelingen offered the following two letters to the political parties asking them to sign them.  They concern not LGBT rights, as in Volt’s letter to Hungary, but the cancellation of elections and the barring of candidates in Romania and France.  The letters are reproduced below.

To the Romanian ambassador :

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you on behalf of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands to express our deepest concern at the cancellation of last year’s presidential elections in Romania and at the Central Electoral Bureau’s decision to prevent Calin Georgescu from standing, he having come first in the first round in November.  Similarly, Diana Sosoaca has also been prevented from standing for what appear to be politically motivated reasons, not judicially based ones.  

Free elections are the very basis of democracy and a core right according to both Article 3 of the 1^st protocol of the European Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  To prevent candidates from standing, and to cancel an election on spurious allegations of foreign interference, which have since been shown to be untrue, is to prevent the ‘free expression of the opinion of the people’ guaranteed by both these treaties, as well as by Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The European Union is founded on the principles of respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. These values are enshrined in the Treaty on European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. By restricting the rights of the electorate to choose the candidate it wants, these basic rights are clearly violated and democracy undermined.  By violating Europe’s core rights, Romania is jeopardizing the unity and integrity of the Union.

The House of Representatives of the Netherlands is convinced that the protection and promotion of the rights of all citizens, regardless of their political orientation or identity, is crucial for a democratic and just society. We therefore urge you reinstate these two candidates for the forthcoming poll. 

We stand in solidarity with the now disenfranchised electorate in Romania and will continue to support their struggle for equality and justice. We hope that the Romanian government will align itself with international norms and values and take steps to guarantee the rights of all citizens.

Yours sincerely,

[xxx]

To the French ambassador : 

Dear Sir,

I am writing to you on behalf of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands to express our deepest concern at the decision taken on 31 March 2025 to prevent Marine Le Pen from standing for election.  As you know, her party is the largest in the French National Assembly and she is a favourite to win in the next presidential election.

Free elections are the very basis of democracy and a core right according to both Article 3 of the 1^st protocol of the European Convention for the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  To prevent a candidate from standing, especially when the candidate enjoys the support of a very sizeable part of the electorate , is to prevent the ‘free expression of the opinion of the people’ guaranteed by both these treaties, as well as by Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The European Union is founded on the principles of respect for human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. These values are enshrined in the Treaty on European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. By restricting the rights of the electorate to choose the candidate it wants, these basic rights are clearly violated and democracy undermined.  By violating Europe’s core rights, Romania is jeopardizing the unity and integrity of the Union.

The House of Representatives of the Netherlands is convinced that the protection and promotion of the rights of all citizens, regardless of their political orientation or identity, is crucial for a democratic and just society. We therefore urge you reinstate these two candidates for the forthcoming poll.

We stand in solidarity with the now disenfranchised electorate in France and will continue to support their struggle for equality and justice. We hope that the French government will align itself with international norms and values and take steps to guarantee the rights of all citizens.

We call on the president of the French Republic to invoke Article 17 of the Constitution of 1958 and use his discretionary powers to pardon Marine Le Pen so that this severe judicial attack on the electoral process can be reversed.

Yours sincerely,

[xxx]

Not one single party out of the fourteen other parties with seats in the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament agreed to sign these letters.

We can conclude, therefore, that LGBT rights are more important than democracy for the majority of Dutch politicians.