Fetish Pride

Fetish Pride Committee

In Amsterdam we think it is important that you can be who you are and that you can love who you want. And we are proud of that. And that is why fetish also has an important place in Pride Amsterdam.

Fetish is more than just leather and latex. It encompasses a wide diversity of interests and expressions, ranging from pup play and BDSM to uniforms and other forms of role play. This diversity shows the many ways in which people can express their identity and sexuality. By making fetish part of Pride, we celebrate this diversity and recognize the important role that fetish has played and continues to play in the LGBTI community. It’s about freedom of expression and the right to be yourself, no matter how you choose to do so.

The Fetish Pride Committee is a diverse group of fetishists from the Netherlands, who, under the leadership of chairman Stanley Starreveld-Doesburg and in collaboration with the Amsterdam fetish community, are committed to the visibility of fetish during Pride Amsterdam.

Fetish is part of Pride

Recently we have increasingly heard calls from America and Europe to keep a Pride celebration ‘neat’, and thus to ban people in fetish outfits. A more ‘inconspicuous’ image of the LGBTI community would promote acceptance and integration. This way of thinking not only erases an important piece of history, it also asks an important part of the current LGBTI community whether they want to hide their identity. And while historically we fought for equal rights during protest marches.

Pride protest marches are held to honor the people who fought against violence and oppression targeting LGBT people in America. The most famous battle is the riots at the Stonewall Inn, New York, in 1969. During these riots, several marginalized LGBTI groups stood up for themselves. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transvestites, transgenders and fetishists fought side by side for acceptance. A philosopher once said, “Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.” That is precisely why we stand side by side to keep this alive and not to hide our visibility in our fight for equal rights.