Text: Paul Hofman
Photo: Leon Hendrickx
Video: Paradox Productions
Haroon Ali: 'Learning from each other’s experiences.' He is a freelance journalist, author, columnist and programme maker. His latest book Spectrum was recently published, subtitled the rainbow community in the 21st century. Haroon (41) mainly writes about culture, diversity and the spirit of the times. He is proud to serve as an ambassador for Pride Amsterdam.
When I speak to him shortly after his ambassadorship is announced, he looks pleased. 'I’m deeply honoured. Apparently I have contributed enough to the rainbow community in recent years to be asked for this.'
Centre stage
About his coming out he says: 'When I came out at 21 I came out, I immediately dived into the gay nightlife with a close friend who had come out earlier. I’ve lived almost my entire life in Amsterdam, but then discovered another, new world I had never dared to explore before. I do know I was always enchanted by the Canal Parade when I saw images on the news. I’ve also had the chance to stand on a boat several times, which is always an indescribable experience. When you see all those people cheering and waving from the banks, you feel for a day like the centre of attention instead of an outsider.'
As an ambassador he is an ideal fit for Pride Amsterdam. 'The difficulty with titles is that many other people deserve them too, or even more than you do. But I think I was asked because I had just published a book about the rainbow community, and also made a widely discussed documentary about homosexuality within Islam.'
Given his background — Haroon grows up queer in a Pakistani-Dutch Islamic family — he brings additional diversity to an already colourful and varied group of ambassadors. 'As a journalist and writer I am also a storyteller. I find it special that I can now share my story with a larger audience, but above all I hope to pass on the stories of others, and that as an ambassador I can be inspired by a wide range of people whom I will undoubtedly meet at many events.'
'Different'
He has thought about how he will fulfil the ambassadorship. 'There are many different ways to do that, so I hope to be useful in the coming year. I would like to bring activists together to debate the theme Together during Pride Amsterdam. How do we keep the community together? I also think the beautiful feature film Joyland, about the love between a Pakistani man and a trans dancer, deserves a wider audience. We could, for example, organise a special screening with an aftertalk.' About his message: 'Many queer people used to feel “different.” But we often walked a similar path to (self-)acceptance. So I think we should focus less on what sets us apart from others and more on what binds us.'
As a journalist and columnist Haroon doesn’t hide his opinions. I’m curious what worries him most when we consider the LGBTQIA+ community. 'Society is polarising further, with people retreating into their own bubbles and no longer willing to listen to those who think or live differently. I also see this in the community, which is increasingly fragmenting into groups and subgroups. Meanwhile we can learn so much from each other’s experiences. It’s precisely those internal differences that make the rainbow community more diverse and stronger.'
The abbreviation LGBTQIA+ contains many letters. You hear voices inside and outside the community saying a person has many identities but is reduced to one box. In short: LGBTQIA+ or queer/rainbow community? What is Haroon’s view?
'A person is indeed more than their sexuality and gender identity, and we all carry a range of identities with us. So you can never focus on one aspect alone, but must see the coherence and overlap between identities. At the same time you need words to describe what you feel and stand for. Labels help people find like-minded others and unite. And thanks to labels we can draw attention to groups that still face many problems and resistance, such as non-binary, transgender and intersex people. Only when we are all treated equally and seen as full, layered people can we let go of those labels entirely. Until then I support the label queer as an umbrella term for everyone who differs from the norm. I also prefer to speak of the rainbow community, in all its colours and forms.'
He expresses his greatest challenge for himself and the queer community as follows: 'At the end of my book Spectrum I describe how I feel caught between two generations. As a 41-year-old millennial I have great respect for the gay men and lesbians who fought for our rights in the past century. My freedom and safety are legally protected thanks to their efforts. My predecessors also lost countless friends during the AIDS crisis. Thanks to the medical research they initiated and still fund, I can now love without fear. The generation after me often doesn’t realise how valuable that peace of mind is. Those who don’t engage with queer history take such gifts for granted.'
'But a younger generation helps us imagine a new world. They call attention to institutionalised racism, also within LGBTQIA+ organisations. Thanks in part to the MeToo movement queer women speak out louder in the rainbow debate, which was long dominated by gay men. They confront gays with their sexism and misogyny, often wrapped in campy humour. I’m also glad the conversation about boundary-crossing behaviour and consent among gay men is now taking place, because that can remove much shame. Such discussions can clash, but that’s not necessarily bad and sometimes even necessary. I hope young and old continue to learn from each other, and keep me sharp.'
Pride ambassador since 2024
