Dutch politician wants gays to be given constitutional protection

An MP in Holland will use this Saturday's Amsterdam Pride to highlight the ways in which the country's government still discriminates against sexual minorities. Boris van der Ham has been a strong supporter of gay rights. He came to prominence in the UK earlier this year when he intervened in the case of a gay Iranian asylum seeker. He secured a debate in the Dutch parliament about Mehdi Kazemi, a gay teenager who was studying in the UK and applied for asylum after his boyfriend was arrested and reportedly executed in Tehran. He fled to Holland when it appeared he would be sent back to Iran. He has now been granted asylum in the UK. Mr van der Ham, a member of the social-liberal D66 party, wants the Dutch constitution amended to include gay people as a protected group. Where most Pride parades use trucks, Amsterdam has 100... [read full story]