Photo: Philippe Vogelenzang
Interview Paul Hofman
Dutch journalist. From From September 2008 to October 2013 she was editor-in-chief of the feminist magazine Opzij. In the summer of 2009 she presented the VPRO programme Zomergasten and in 2015 she took part in the TV show Wie is de Mol; later that year her first book De Liefde Niet was published. “My coming-out was difficult, but it was a breakthrough to personal freedom — something everyone has a right to. That is exactly the core message of my ambassadorship. Role models, connection within our community, and continuously standing up for our rights and those of (young) people in other communities and parts of the world — people who need us — are vitally important. Individual freedom matters, but the individual shouldn’t always have to stand alone.”
Interview Margriet van der Linden
“I was never afraid to say: this is who I am!”
We are proud to name Margriet van der Linden EuroPride ambassador 2016. To the general public she became best known for her participation in the programme ‘Wie is de Mol’, where she ultimately turned out to be ‘De Mol’. But she has been active in journalism for many years, both in front of and behind the camera — for example as editor-in-chief of Opzij and as presenter of ‘Zomergasten’.
Margriet fondly recalls the Gay Games in 1998: “During the Gay Games in 1998 I lived on the Damrak. I leaned out the window and saw crowds arriving from Centraal Station, groups of tourists — the streets filling up. It was the first time after my coming-out that I thought: this is amazing. It felt so free, open and joyful. I hope that feeling returns to the city and to me during EuroPride.”
Margriet has an exceptionally strong personality, which gives her exactly the visibility we expect from a EuroPride ambassador: “I think being visible has always suited me. I was never afraid to say: this is who I am!” With this powerful message Margriet connects perfectly with our theme JOIN our Freedom.
“Last year I took part in the documentary Love Exchange. Five well-known Dutch people were paired with five foreign ‘Heroes of Love’. I was paired with a transgender man from South Africa. We saw each other regularly in the run-up to Pride Amsterdam and on the day of the Canal Parade. I cycled along the Prinsengracht towards the Amstel to meet him and saw people everywhere preparing — putting down barbecues, setting up boats, hanging flags. It was the excitement before it all happens; everyone was involved. Some people call it a bit of spectacle, but I know many who turn their backs on it, who don’t want anything to do with it. But don’t be such a grump — I love it. Join in, enjoy the party!”
Pride Ambassador since 2016
