The relationship between the Christian faith and homosexuality in Utrecht, as in the rest of the Netherlands, underwent significant transformations starting in the 1950s. Both within and outside the church, numerous activists dedicated themselves to fostering dialogue, visibility, and acceptance, and the city became a focal point for demonstrations that resonated nationwide.

Until the mid-twentieth century, homosexuality was widely considered a sin or even an illness by Christian churches and society at large. However, during the 1950s, both Catholic and Protestant pastors, along with psychiatrists, began to view homosexuals as individuals in need of understanding. While churches continued to condemn homosexuality, they began to acknowledge homosexuals as “fellow creatures” deserving of compassion.

In 1958, the Catholic National Office for Mental Health established the Pastoral Office to offer psychological and spiritual support to Catholics struggling with their homosexual feelings. Among its founders was psychiatrist Kees Trimbos, who worked at the Amsterdam Catholic Foundation for Mental Health Care. In 1961, Trimbos hosted a radio series for the Catholic Radio Broadcasting Company (KRO) on mental and sexual health, in which he openly discussed homosexuality.

In 1959, S.J. Ridderbos, a Reformed minister from Amsterdam, published an article arguing that the Bible condemns not “real” homosexuality, but only ritual homosexual acts performed in honor of pagan gods.

Pastoral Care for Homosexuals

In the 1960s, religious initiatives to support homosexuals grew, with an increasing sensitivity among pastors toward the intersection of faith and sexual identity. Like Trimbos with KRO, Reverend Alje Kramer (1923–1986), pastor at the Interdenominational Broadcasting Company (IKOR), compassionately addressed homosexuality in his monthly radio talks, receiving expressions of gratitude.

In 1962, an interdenominational working group for pastoral care of homosexuals was formed. By 1968, this group advocated for royal approval of COC, the national queer self-organization, which at the time was still required for legal recognition. Ministers R. Brussaard, A. Klamer, and Catholic priest J. Gottschalk were key figures in organizing local meetings and founding the Contact Groups for Homosexuals (today’s Kringen), offering a Christian alternative to COC. By the late 1960s, several of these groups were established in Utrecht.

The Emergence of a (Church) Gay Movement

The pioneering efforts of progressive individuals helped normalize the conversation about homosexuality within churches and beyond, particularly among students. The rise in student populations during the 1960s saw the creation of new church initiatives, including the Amsterdam Student Church. Co-founder Jesuit Father Jan van Kilsdonk personally supported students, even visiting gay cafés, and worked to make the church inclusive of everyone.

In 1970, inspired by Amsterdam, the Evangelical University Church (EUG) was founded in Utrecht. This partnership between Protestant, Reformed, and Roman Catholic student ministries welcomed many Christian LGBTQIA+ individuals as members and even as pastoral workers. One prominent member was Anna Wies Rijpkema (1945–2005), a lesbian, Reformed student pastor who studied theology in Kampen and became active in the gay and lesbian movement from 1972. Another significant figure was Reverend Hans van der Werf, who began the “city pastorate” at the Dom Church (former cathedral) in 1970. The city pastorate remained a popular spiritual space for LGBTQIA+ individuals until his death in 1979.

In the 1970s, the gay rights movement focused on challenging authorities and institutions perceived as oppressive, including the Catholic Church. In 1970, the Vatican appointed the conservative Joannes Gijsen as bishop of Roermond, who in 1979 declared that communion should be denied to “practicing homosexuals.” This led to protests, including the first “Pink Saturday” (Roze Zaterdag) in Roermond, where thousands marched with slogans like “Gijsen, get lost!” Pink Saturday (Roze Zaterdag) became an annual event for the Dutch gay movement, moving to different cities each year, including Utrecht on three occasions.

Working Groups and Grassroots Initiatives

Homosexual believers who chose to retain their faith began to take matters into their own hands by forming working groups. By the early 1970s, at least four “contact groups” existed in Utrecht, and Christian COC members gathered in the Church Information Working Group from 1974. In the mid-1980s, some COC members, rejecting religious institutions, established the Atheist Faggots Working Group (WAF), though it achieved limited success.

In 1978, Dutch Catholic priests, pastoral workers, and theology students founded the Working Group of Catholic Gay Pastors (Werkverband Katholieke Homopastores / WKHP). In 1983, they published a study titled Homo en Pastoor (“Gay and Pastor”), exploring the attitudes and pastoral care offered by priests toward homosexual churchgoers. This study revealed much more openness and understanding among Utrecht priests compared to the Vatican’s stance. Likewise, Protestant theologians formed the Association of Homophile Theologians (later the Association of Queer Theologians) in 1979.

Young lesbians and gays from various denominations also organized informal groups, such as ContrariO and the Christian Homo Youth Contact (CHJC), which established branches across the Netherlands. In the 1980s and 1990s, various church communities formed support networks for parents of LGBTQIA+ children, including the liberated Reformed association Koinotès.

The 1960s saw a shift in the role of women in the church, from a silent majority to active challengers of the status quo. Women began pursuing theological studies in greater numbers, and feminist theology emerged as a key topic, paving the way for “dyke and faggot theology.” In 1985, lesbian women founded the “Dykes and Theology” working group, followed by the establishment of “Netwerk Verkeerd Verbonden” (Network of Wrongly Bound) in 1990, which supported women’s involvement in faith.

At Utrecht University and the Utrecht-based Catholic Theological University (KTU), gay student associations were created, such as Sint Sebastiaan (1983). In 1988, Anne van Voorthuizen and Conny van Lier founded the Lesbian Theological Study Group Sappho. These efforts led to the formation of a National Coordination Point for Groups on Church and Homosexuality (LKP) in 1987 to strengthen the network of Christian organizations supporting LGBTQIA+ believers. The magazine Vroom & Vrolijk (“Pious & Gay”) was launched in 1989, providing a platform for lesbian and gay Christians until 2007.

Opposition and Confrontation in the Catholic Church

Despite the grassroots movements, the Catholic Church, particularly under Archbishop Simonis (appointed in 1980), responded with increased conservatism. Simonis, aligned with the Vatican’s position on homosexuality, faced protests during his 1980 inauguration, with LGBTQIA+ individuals and their supporters singing protest songs outside St. Catherine’s Cathedral. His policies restricted pastoral care for homosexuals, prohibiting blessings of same-sex unions and communion for known LGBTQIA+ individuals.

In 1985, during a visit by Pope John Paul II, further protests erupted, with demonstrators criticizing the Vatican’s stance on LGBTQIA+ issues. At the Royal Jaarbeurs, the pope was criticized by Hedwig Wasser, leader of the Movement of May 8th (Acht Meibeweging), a progressive Catholic platform that criticized the undemocratic attitude of the Roman Curia. She called on the pope to include those who were excluded by the Church: unmarried cohabitants, divorced people, married priests, homosexuals and women. Both confrontations made world news that day.

Despite these protests, Simonis’s position remained unchanged. In 1987, he even endorsed the idea that Catholic landlords could refuse to rent to LGBTQIA+ individuals, prompting a public demonstration by COC. In 1987, Simonis even went so far as to say that Catholic landlords could refuse to rent their rooms to gays or lesbians. COC responded by organizing a well-attended torchlight procession to the bishop’s palace, followed by a demonstration on the St. John’s Church Square (Janskerkhof). The summary proceedings that COC initiated against Simonis were lost. The judge ruled that his statements were in accordance with a doctrine that had been practiced by the Catholic Church for centuries.

Beyond Acceptance: Progress and Challenges

Over time, LGBTQIA+ Christians began to distance themselves from the church, sometimes viewing it as an adversary, while others sought to foster acceptance and full emancipation within their faith communities. An example: in the context of Pink Saturday in Utrecht in 1986, an extensive Pink Week was organized. Part of this was a meeting in the Cunera conference centre, organized by people who were members of the EUG with activities for believing lesbians and gays. The promotional material for the event speaks the language of those years of action: ‘dykes’ and ‘faggots’ demanded recognition and respect instead of ecclesiastical intolerance and mocking queers.

Words became deeds, also within some churches. In 1986, after years of reflection, the progressive church of the Remonstrant Brotherhood decided that its new church order would no longer contain an article on the ‘blessing’ of marriages, but only on the blessing of ‘life bonds’ between two (adult) people who promise each other love and fidelity. In doing so, it officially opened its doors – as the first religious community in Europe, and fifteen years before the legal opening of marriage – to the ‘confirmation’ of homosexual relationships.

In 1987, the first celebrations took place and devout gays and lesbians also came from abroad to receive the religious blessing. Even before the Remonstrant Brotherhood offered official celebrations, same-sex couples had already participated in unofficial and sometimes clandestine rituals. Christian couples had their unions blessed in secret by well-meaning pastors, even though the blessing of same-sex couples remained a difficult issue for many other church communities.

On the Sunday before Pink Saturday 1988, Rev. Rijpkema of the EUG was the first to hold a pink celebration in the St. John’s Church (Janskerk). This Utrecht initiative would grow into an annual tradition. In the years that followed, Utrecht was repeatedly the scene of larger protests and demonstrations, in which the Working Group of Catholic Gay Pastors and other gay activists participated.

On 9 December 1989, the LKP, in collaboration with the Council of Churches, organised a study day entitled ‘Beyond acceptance’. In a report, the organisers summarised the developments over the previous ten years. The text was shared with the leaders of the churches and the positions became guidelines for activists.

Equal Treatment and Legal Milestones

A long battle, started in the seventies for a new Equal Treatment Act (Algemene Wet Gelijke Behandeling / AWGB) was won in 1994. The basis of this law is mainly the  first article of the Constitution. Minister of the Interior in het national government and Utrecht resident Ien Dales was of fundamental importance in the final steps for the approval of this law in 1992.

The law was quickly put into practice when, under pressure from the Vatican, the Utrecht theological gay student associations came under fire in 1997. Until then, these independent student associations, like others, were mentioned in the information brochures of both theological schools and participation was rewarded with credits. But in early 1997, the Catholic Theological University declared that students would no longer receive credits for their participation in Sappho or Sint Sebastiaan. The LKP went to the Equal Treatment Commission, which ruled at the end of the year that the KTU discriminated against the students because of their sexual orientation.

Queer Christians in Utrecht today

At the beginning of the 21st century, many Western countries have introduced positive legislation for LHBTQIA+ and this has been accompanied by greater acceptance and visibility in society. Presumably in response, religious fundamentalists opposed to queer integration have gained strength. The biggest struggles are still the legitimacy of same-sex couples and their desire to have children, conversion therapies to ‘cure’ homosexuality, and the concept of gender identity.

The Netherlands opened civil marriage to same-sex partners on April 1, 2001. Many other countries have followed, including the US in 2016. In the first decade of this century, the Protestant Church in the Netherlands and a few small, liberal Protestant denominations officially allowed the blessing of same-sex unions. The Old Catholic Church did the same, but the Roman Catholic Church remained steadfastly opposed.

In 2017, American evangelicals gained worldwide support with initiatives such as the Nashville Statement. The statement calls homosexuality immoral and denies the legitimacy of same-sex couples and transgender identity. The document was also published in the Netherlands in 2018 and signed by some 250 church leaders from various denominations. Strong reactions to the statement came from both organizations of LGBTQIA+ Christians and from other members of Dutch and world churches. The heated debates that followed showed the scope of the global conflict.

While the Roman Catholic Church declares ‘gender ideology’ (the distinction between biological gender and culturally influenced gender) to be the greatest danger of our time, in the Netherlands, within the PKN and the Anglican Church, transgender people are now welcomed and facilitated with rituals in which that person presents themselves with their new name and receives a blessing. The Dutch government, thanks to the efforts of national queer organizations, has also taken steps to ban conversion therapies that have been used for years in some (orthodox) religious communities. The ‘LGBT+ healing’ therapy is designed to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of people, often with serious traumatic consequences for the recipient.

Queer activists continue to support small and large initiatives outside and within churches to promote visibility and integration. Foundations such as Wijdekerk share online maps of ‘safe’ churches, where queer people can fully participate in community life. Long-standing organizations pool their resources and continue to offer support to young and old queer believers, such as the associations ContrariO and CHJC, which work together under the name ‘ChristenQueer’.

Christian LGBTQIA+ in Utrecht can go to many churches in communities that are open to them. The Ecumenical St. John’s Church community (formerly EUG) still offers a safe haven for Christian gays and has been hosting the celebration of Pink Sunday for over 30 years, together with the City Pastorate Dom Church, the Remonstrant Community Utrecht, the Mennonite Community Utrecht, the Evangelical Lutheran Community Utrecht, the Old Catholic parish of Utrecht and the Baptist community Silos.

Much has changed for LGBTQIA+ Christians in the past seventy years: there are dozens of queer activists, pastors and pastoral workers active in the city and its churches, but full acceptance within the church community is still a dream for many. At the same time, Christian gays and lesbians have reclaimed their place in the queer community as active participants.

Gianna Mula en David Bos