LGBTQIA+ within the Netherlands. Credit score: FransA, Pexels
Dozens of LGBTQIA+ People have fled to the Netherlands since Donald Trump started his second time period as U.S. President, with many extra getting ready to observe, in keeping with a number of experiences.
The surge is supposedly being pushed by fears over more and more repressive laws concentrating on gender identification and trans rights in america.
Asylum requests and residency functions within the Netherlands
In simply the primary three months of 2025, 20 People have sought asylum within the Netherlands – surpassing the overall annual quantity seen in earlier years. Round half of those are transgender, in keeping with the Transgender Community, cited by NL Occasions.
However as a result of strict asylum situations within the Netherlands, many are turning to different authorized routes. The Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT), which gives residency to U.S. entrepreneurs, has additionally seen a dramatic enhance in functions.
“Since Trump, we’re getting some 30 requests each month, over half of that are from the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood,” Wesley de Robles, of Immigration Netherlands Providers, instructed AD.
Earlier than Trump’s return to workplace, the variety of DAFT-based functions from LGBTQIA+ People was just a few monthly.
Trump’s stance on LGBTQIA+
Since taking workplace in January 2025, the Trump administration has rolled out a collection of anti-LGBTQIA+ measures, together with:
- Recognising solely two genders (female and male)
- Banning rainbow flags from authorities buildings
- Scrapping funding for transgender youth healthcare
- Banning phrases like “non-binary” and “gender identification” in federal dialogue
- Limiting passports to indicate solely intercourse assigned at delivery
Some U.S. states have gone even additional. For instance, Arkansas is contemplating a invoice to ban hairstyles that “don’t match” a toddler’s assigned gender at delivery, in keeping with NL Occasions.
Regardless of the rise in asylum requests, Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber of the anti-immigration PVV social gathering has rejected calls to loosen the foundations. In response to a letter from LGBT Asylum Help, she said:
“Trump’s coverage provides no purpose to imagine that transgender individuals ought to concern persecution,” cited by NL Occasions.
Nevertheless, LGBTQIA+ rights teams disagree. Anne Ogborn of Trans Rescue warned:
“In lots of locations, merely utilizing a public rest room is taken into account against the law.”
She added: “A storm is brewing. Transgender People will come right here, due to the Dutch repute for tolerance and for being on the forefront of homosexual rights.”
Protest deliberate in Amsterdam
A protest is deliberate for Saturday, April 19, at 1:00 pm in entrance of the American consulate on Museumplein in Amsterdam. It’s presently closed for renovations, however the demonstration is being organised by People residing within the Netherlands.
Whereas not particularly about LGBTQIA+ rights, the protest targets the broader “violation of due course of rights” by the U.S. authorities, following experiences of immigrants being detained and despatched to a “brutal jail in El Salvador,” in keeping with the NL Occasions.
View all information from the Netherlands.