Open letter to the city council: No more provocative actions at Antwerp Pride

Petiția este adresată către: Antwerp city council

On the 9th of August, 2025, Antwerp Pride was disrupted by a Voorpost demo. The city council gave permission to this far-right organisation to stand along the parade's route with banners reading "There are only two sexes". Seventeen Antwerp Pride participants were arrested because they wished to hinder the Voorpost demo's visibility. 

As a citizen's collective, we plan to send the following to the city council and seek your support in this matter:

To the city council,

We are extremely concerned about the far right group Voorpost receiving permission to hold a demonstration at the Antwerp Pride Parade on the 9th of August. As a result of this decision, over a hundred thousand participants were confronted with their banner immediately after starting their march. This banner read “There are only two sexes”. Participants of the parade who tried to place themselves in front of said banner were then met with police violence. The only official response was that the city had provided them with permission to hold the demo. In the end, 17 peaceful counter-protesters were administratively arrested. During a Pride Parade that was theirs to celebrate, notably.

The fact that everyone has their right to an opinion is not one we wish to deny, but the actions of Voorpost were not an innocent invocation of the right to free speech. It was a targeted, transphobic provocation. Where does the right to free speech end and the government’s duty to protect people from discrimination and hatred begin?

We do not want to look on passively as a far-right group - who only very recently were prosecuted for their violent actions in Zutendaal in 2024 - gets police protection at a Pride Parade where they spread transphobic messages. The lessons here are clear: Everywhere these groups are allowed more space, our human rights are put under pressure and our physical integrity is threatened. How can the city countenance this?

Why did the city not forbid this demo? Why did Voorpost receive permission to hold their banner within viewing distance of the parade? What if a group of people had tried to remove said banner? On what basis did the police arrest Pride participants?

We want the city council to take responsibility for its actions. That’s why we demand that the city engages itself to ensure that in the future:

• Provocative or discriminatory demos are never allowed to take place in the vicinity of LGBTQIA+ events in future..
• The safety of all Antwerp Pride Parade participants and its spectators are given priority over all who spread hate speech, wish to provoke or discriminate against them.
• The people who were administratively arrested receive no further sanctions and a public apology from the city council.

Freedom of speech is a right. Discrimination is not.
The Antwerp Pride Parade may grow year on year, but it should be safe and inclusive.

With exasperation and determination,
Concerned citizens of Antwerp, Antwerp LGBTQIA+ people and their allies, NGOs and businesses.