Pride Amsterdam as a space for moral contestations about queer activism

Amsterdam, the Netherlands: by many seen as the place in the world where liberalism, freedom, and tolerance, especially when it comes to the queer community, prevail. Yet, it is not all peace and quiet in the Amsterdam queer movement, and contentiousness around the meaning of Pride, and with it its in- and exclusions, exists. This paper attempts to answer the question: “What moral and ethical contestations exist within the Amsterdam queer movement about the meaning and future of Pride Amsterdam, and what do these contestations mean for the building of collaboration within the broader Amsterdam queer movement?”. The paper is based on the fieldwork of my PhD research, which is concerned with the production of difference and the creation of solidarity within the Amsterdam queer movement. In this paper I argue that different interpretations of queer activism, which bring about different political and moral expectations, plus the fact that historically marginalized groups are now becoming increasingly heard and seen in the mainstream, consequently questioning the inclusiveness of Pride, inform contentiousness and conflict. The self-conception of the Netherlands as a nation is based on notions of ‘color blindness’ (Wekker, 2016). The intersectional message expressed by grassroots activist groups, focusing on the (re)claiming of space by historically marginalized groups, particularly for queer people of colour, goes against this self-understanding of color blindness, leading to tensions. Yet, the specific focus of these activist groups has also shaped new collaborations, and openings in power relations, through 'ethical moments' in which people reflect on their moral notions (Zigon, 2009). I will discuss the example of activist group We Reclaim Our Pride, and its impact on the transformation of Pride in Amsterdam, as a way of illustrating this combination of conflict with new collaborations and change. Grounded in queer theory (Muñoz, 1999; Ferguson, 2009), and literature around the anthropology of morality and ethics (Zigon, 2009; Dave, 2012), this paper looks at different interpretations of queer activism, different understandings of the past and future of queer activism, and connects these issues to the institutional context of Pride Amsterdam.