Groen launches Rainbow Plan: ‘Children must be taught about gender diversity’

With a Rainbow Plan, Groen wants to anchor LGBTQIA+ rights in education and in the constitution. According to the party, this is necessary, given the extreme right-wing wind that is coming our way. ‘Many have difficulty saying no to Vlaams Belang. We do not.’

While city workers wrap the city center of Brussels in rainbow flags on Thursday morning, the Flemish Greens open their large rainbow umbrellas in the capital. The party uses the start of Brussels Pride Week to launch a Rainbow Plan.

In doing so, she wants to ensure the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, primarily through education. For example, Groen wants to see curricula for gender and sexual orientation. By teaching students more about sexual diversity, gender diversity and the diversity of families, the party hopes to combat discrimination, according to co-chair Nadia Naji and Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter.

“It starts with the toddlers,” says Naji from the Brussels Suzan Daniel Bridge, named after our country’s first lesbian activist. “Students need to be taught about gender diversity and diverse families.” The party wants to develop the curricula for this together with civil society.

A second spearhead is the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ rights in the constitution. Groen wants to revise Article 150 so that people who spew hate online can be prosecuted instead of before the court of assizes, as is now the case. ‘Homophobic and transphobic hate speech is rampant on the internet. Bringing this to the criminal court is less cumbersome and time-consuming than an assize,’ says De Sutter.

The Rainbow Plan also promotes a single reporting point against discrimination, practical tests in the labor and housing markets, more money for development cooperation to protect sexual minorities, and a European anti-discrimination law.

Groen emphasizes that there is no time to lose. “With the rise of extreme right-wing and conservative forces, a lot can change in the short term,” says De Sutter. This applies not only in other parts of Europe – think of the gay-free zones in Poland and Hungary – but also in our country, she emphasizes. ‘If Vlaams Belang were to come to power, we would know that it would abolish gay marriage, even if it said it would not. The better we establish LGBTQIA+ rights now, the less room they will have to maneuver in the future.’

According to the party, the fact that Groen explicitly positions itself on ‘rainbow themes’ is logic itself. She sees that other parties are taking up the challenge less and less and are openly questioning whether anchoring it in the constitution would not go too far. Although progressive parties are not against rights for sexual minorities, no one makes such a spearhead as the Greens, the party prides itself on.

It remains to be seen whether votes can be won with it. The party has to take a loss in the polls and fluctuates between 6 and 8 percent. It raises the question of how broadly you can stretch the voting public by focusing on climate, environment and gender discrimination.

Yet the Greens remain combative for the June 9 elections. “People see that we are the only ones who stand our ground,” says Naji. ‘Many parties, even Vooruit, choose to place identity accents, for example on migration. Many have difficulty saying no to Vlaams Belang. We do not. And that will certainly convince people at the voting booth.’