1 Feb 2012
Education minister van Bijsterveldt has appealed to the country’s imams to speak out against homophobia. Recent comments from the Dutch Institute of Psychologists (NIP) and the country’s Moroccan-Dutch Alliance (SMN) organization have drawn attention to the difficulties that Moroccan homosexuals, particularly youth, face. The organizations commented that although there is “progress” with respect to homosexual acceptance, gay Moroccan youth are more likely to suffer from psychological problems.
Van Bijsterveldt declined to impose mandatory attention to homosexuality in elementary schools, saying that it is up to the school to determine curriculum in that respect. However he did call upon the country’s imam’s to support gay rights, as “It must really come from inside one’s own community.”
