Man seriously assaulted after Amersfoort Pride

A man who attended Pride Amersfoort was seriously assaulted early Saturday morning as he biked along the city’s Heiligenbergerweg around 3am.

He told officers he was pulled from his bike and attacked by several boys on fatbikes. He was taken by ambulance to hospital where his condition has not been released.

Although police are still investigating if this was an anti-LGBTQ+ crime, the chairwoman of Amsterdam Pride, Linda van Tuyl, has called it “terrible”.

She told RTV Utrecht she had received many messages from people unnerved by the news, especially after what she called a successful day with hundreds marching in a Pride Walk and thousands of others joining the celebrations.

Van Tuyl also called it a day of connection. “But then you wake up in the morning and realize that something terrible also happened at 3am.”

Van Tuyl sees increasing violence against members of the LGBTI+ community and urges those who experience it to report it. Reporting platform RITA, which has a network of safe locations throughout the country, said it received between 30-40 reports regarding Pride Amersfoort.

RITA has launched so-called safer spaces for Pride Amsterdam, too, with some 35 locations people can go to if they are being harassed, including the Stedelijk Museum, De Nieuwe Kerk, the city archives and several hotels where security is already in place.

“You are safe there in any case, and someone will help you further – for example, to contact the police,” said Jerrald Justin, co-founder and board member of RITA. He called these places a necessity. “Why should anyone be afraid to get home safely after a day where love, freedom and being yourself take center stage?”

The police have also called for anyone with more information to come forward.