Dutch gay soldiers in uniform take part in Gay Canal Parade

Dutch soldiers allowed to join gay parade in uniform

(ANP)

The Dutch defence ministry has given permission for soldiers to join the Canal Parade in uniform for the first time.

The soldiers will not have their own boat in Saturday's Canal Parade, the highlight of Amsterdam's Gay Pride celebrations, but will take place on the boats of the homosexual sections of unions like FNV or companies like IBM, Shell or Philips.

A defence ministry spokesperson said soldiers are allowed to take part "on condition that they wear suitable attire". She stressed that joining the parade is based on individual decisions and the defence ministry is not directly involved.

More: http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2312609.ece/Dutch_soldiers_allowed_to_join_gay_parade_in_uniform

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Gay Pride has 'widened and deepened'

(By Jaus Müller/ NRC Handelsblad)

Gay Pride has become about much more than naked men strutting their stuff. Saturday's Canal Parade has more organisations and corporations taking part than ever before. Even the military is present this year - in uniform.

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This year, the Christian Democrat party is taking part in the Canal Parade, and so is ING. Top athletes will have their own boat, and the defence ministry has allowed soldiers to take part in uniform (as long as they wear it correctly). Even heterosexuals will have their own boat on Saturday- out of solidarity.

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The 14th edition of Gay Pride will see eighty boats converge on Amsterdam's canals. Thirty of them have a "heavy message", says Van Dalen, with themes like violence against homosexuals or the emancipation of Christian homosexuals. There are also "political" boats like that of Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen or Labour minister Ronald Plasterk, whose portfolio includes homosexual emancipation.

More: http://www.nrc.nl/international/Features/article2316220.ece/Gay_Pride_has_widened_and_deepened

How big is the contrast between this move on the part of the Dutch Secretary of Defense, and the American policy of "don't ask, don't tell"?