Dutch Military Takes Aim at Anti-Gay Bias

As President Clinton prepares to end the armed forces’ ban on homosexuals, the Dutch military is trying to make them feel more at home.

The Dutch lifted its ban on gays in uniform nearly two decades ago, but some prejudice remains.

“We want to create a climate in which homosexuals can feel free to be themselves,” said Robert Wester, Defense Ministry spokesman on military personnel.

Beginning this year, the army plans to devote several days of officer-training courses to the understanding of homosexual lifestyles. The navy and air force started similar programs last year.

Personnel counselors are being trained to deal with social and emotional problems faced by homosexuals.

“It’s certainly not a gay paradise in the Dutch armed forces, but we’re working on it,” said Lt. Col. Rene Holtel, the highest ranking officer who is openly gay.

After receiving a citation from the nation’s leading gay-activist group in 1992, Defense Minister Relus ter Beek said he was only doing “what I consider normal.”

“Just as I keep a snapshot of my wife and children on my desk, they should be able to have one of their boyfriend,” he said in an interview with Gay Krant, the national newspaper for homosexuals.

Military officials estimate about 10% of the 130,000 soldiers in the Dutch armed forces are gay.

Integrating them into the forces is in line with a policy adopted in the 1970s to accommodate soldiers’ personal preferences, such as having labor unions, not saluting superiors, and wearing long hair and jewelry.

The policy is part of making the armed forces “a mirror image of society,” Wester said. “You have a better armed force when it’s a tolerant place. It’s the best way to good morale and discipline.”

Fritz van Rikxoort, a former draftee and chairman of the conscripts union, said he “decided rather soon in basic training to tell my captain that I was a homosexual. When that happened, I was summoned and some of the others thought I’d be kicked out.

“But he told me that he, too, was a homosexual. I was no longer afraid.”

On paper, gays in the military have equal rights, meaning that homosexual companions are entitled to the same housing, insurance and pension benefits as heterosexual mates. Under civilian law, unmarried couples living together, homosexual and heterosexual, have the same rights as married couples.

Military leaders concede, however, that macho attitudes persist in the services and that harassment is common.

“But it doesn’t mean they get beaten up like in the American military,” said Holtel, a 26-year veteran who commands the 102nd Battalion.

He also leads the 700-member Homosexuality and Armed Forces Foundation, which is financed by the Defense Ministry and meets monthly with Ter Beek and other top military officials.

“Over the years, I’ve met several commanders who thought I was a skilled officer but shouldn’t be promoted because I’m gay,” Holtel said by telephone from his command in the General de Bons Barracks. “I’ve had to fight that, and so far I’ve won.”

No sex is allowed on military bases. Wester said gay couples may maintain relationships in the service if sex is confined to their private life, and “the same goes for heterosexuals.”

Van Rikxoort said homosexual sex does occur on bases, mostly off duty, and there is a fair amount of flirting on duty.