From 18 to 28 December, the city of Amsterdam will have a new gay event to gawk at: Pink Christmas. On 21 December, there will be a big Christmas market at the Pink Christmas Square (wherever that is) featuring a live Christmas nativity scene with Josephs, Marias and a bunch of pink Christmas trees (and no baby Jesus). I say gawk because let’s face it, the Gay Pride parade in the summer on boats is all about gawking at scantily clad men and a few women no matter what the message is or your sexual preference.

According to Stichting ProGay (ProGay association), the goal is to rival the summer Gay Pride parade as an event. ”We know that it will take time before this event is as popular. For now this market is basically just a nice street party,” explains chairman Frank van Dalen.

Does Amsterdam really need a new gay event? Maybe, why not, sure, we’ll see. But why it is Christmas related besides the fact that it is held at the end of the year? I don’t know, but it feels weird for reasons that have nothing to do with sexual orientation.

Christmas is not the most popular holiday in the Netherlands, Sinterklaas is, and it is mainly a children’s party. Christmas is in third place, after Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day) in April. And so Christmas, as compared to many other European countries, seems increasingly secular in nature, with Christmas cards more often depicting snow, snowflakes and symbols of winter than traditional Christmas symbols. Just go to the shops anywhere in the country with this in mind. It’s just not a big deal to the Dutch apparently, so maybe making it pink and gay is the way to go. We’ll see.

(Link: parool.nl)