1931 – 1994

Labour politician and advocate for equal treatment

Ien Dales advocated for minorities in the Netherlands for years. Her friendship with Elizabeth Schmitz and Nel van Dalfsen and her fight against discrimination against homosexuals became a source of inspiration for many in the queer community.

Catharina Isabella (‘Ien’) Dales was born on October 18, 1931 in Arnhem. She was the daughter of Teunis Dales, wholesaler in building materials, and Wilhelmina Bertha Holstege (originally Holstigen). When she was ten years old her father died. This left her mother – a strong woman inspired by faith – to earn a living.

Her upbringing in the Dutch Reformed Church influenced her character for the rest of her life. She was able to benefit from a scholarship from the Dutch Reformed Church to continue her education at the training centre ‘Kerk en Wereld’ (Church and World) in Driebergen. As early as 1956 she worked at ‘Kerk en Wereld’, where she would eventually become director from 1969 to 1974. In 1968 she officially became a member of the Labour Party (PvdA), a membership that would be of great significance for her future.

Political passion

From 1977 to 1981, Ien was director of the municipal Social Services in Rotterdam. She then became State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment until a government crisis in 1982. After that she entered the House of Representatives thanks to many preferential votes. She left in 1987 to become mayor of the Dutch city of Nijmegen. There she was given the nickname Ma Flodder (a then popular Dutch TV-character) because of her unconventional appearance and because she was averse to pretence. At the end of 1989, she became Minister of the Interior in the government and guided the General Equal Treatment Act through parliament with powerful advocacy.

Living together

Ien lived in Utrecht from 1976, although she also had an address in Nijmegen during her time as mayor. She lived with Nel van Dalfsen († 1991), former colleague of the ‘Kerk en Wereld’. During her work for the municipal Social Services in Rotterdam, a strong bond developed with aldermen Elisabeth Schmitz, who was later also given a room in the shared Utrecht house.

Criticism on the reform of the Equal Treatment Act

As of March 1980, an Equal Treatment Act (Wet Gelijke Behandeling / WGB) was already in effect, which only dealt with equal treatment of men and women. This was followed by a preliminary bill for a General Equal Treatment Act (Algemene Wet Gelijke Behandeling / AWGB), now including discrimination against homosexuality. This drew a lot of criticism from conservative Christian circles at the end of 1981, as they felt it should contain exceptions based on religion, so that a Christian school could refuse to employ a homosexual teacher, for instance. This evoked counter-reactions from progressive church circles in the Netherlands, including the Utrecht Dom Church: the church council wanted to send a letter to the government to state that the Preliminary Draft should not allow an exception on the grounds of religion for teachers. To this end, in January 1982, Nel van Dalfsen (then chairman of the church council) invited a lesbian church member to draft that letter together with some elders at her home: “We would like to have someone there who is personally involved in this subject.” That was Gea Zijlstra, who was happy to participate. There Gea learned that Nel and Ien were not a lesbian couple.

In 1986, the National Working Group on Faith and Philosophy of the COC discussed the planning for the 40th anniversary of the COC. An anniversary day was planned for this in Utrecht, with a forum on the connection between the Equal Treatment Act and the report ‘1+1=together’ from the main Christian political party. While the organizers were thinking of a forum leader who might also be gay or lesbian, one of the members active in the reformed circle suggested Ien Dales, because she assumed she and Nel were a lesbian couple.

Gea Zijlstra, a member of the working group, was involved in the planning. Because she knew Ien from the Utrecht Dom Church, she was asked to contact her. She asked her to take on the role of chairperson at the forum and mentioned that the organizers preferred someone who was gay or lesbian. Ien then said she was not a lesbian, but supported the gay movement and was therefore happy to take it on.

Conclusion and legacy

When Ien Dales died suddenly in Utrecht on 10 January 1994, it became clear how loved she was by many. Thousands of people paid their respects during a packed funeral in the Utrecht Dom Church.

Ien Dales was always reserved about her private life. Within the Reformed Church, some assumed that Ien and Nel had a lesbian relationship. After her death, then Prime Minister Lubbers ‘outed’ her in his tribute, as if she had a relationship with Elisabeth. Unlike Elisabeth, Nel and Ien never openly confirmed or denied that they were lesbians, which still causes all kinds of speculation.

Her legacy lives on in the Dales Lecture and the Mayor Dales Prize, both established in 1996 by the COC Nijmegen on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. The prize is awarded annually to a person or organization from Nijmegen that values diversity and respect as referred to in Article 1 of the Constitution.

Gea Zijlstra and Gianna Mula