Hivos poster ‘I am a lesbian’ vandalised
They would perhaps cause some controversy. Even in a relatively gay-friendly country such as the Netherlands. This is what Hivos expected to happen. But the fact that the ‘I am a lesbian’ campaign posters were ripped from billboards just before the end of 2009 came as a shock.
‘We were all the more surprised because the posters had already been up for six months without causing any vandalism,’ says Paul Jansen of the Hivos gay emancipation programme. ‘We don’t know who did it, neither do we know what their motive was. But this form of vandalism is regrettable, particularly if homophobia played a role.’
Hiding their identity
The posters concerned show a veiled woman and the words ‘I am a lesbian’. Apart from the posters that were completely ripped away, other posters were found where the word ‘lesbian’ had been cut out. Jansen: ‘With this campaign we ask attention for the extremely difficult position of non-heterosexual people in developing countries, including lesbian, gays, bisexuals and trans genders. They have to hide their sexual identity in many countries, for fear of exclusion, violence, humiliation, prosecution or even the death penalty. The woman on the poster – who gave permission to use her photograph – symbolises all men and women who, partly thanks to Hivos, no longer have to hide their non-heterosexual identity.’
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