Two gay men brutally beaten up – now men in “whole” Netherlands holding hands

Two high-ranking Dutch politicians were photographed holding hands earlier this week as they arrived at The Hague for negotiations on the formation of a new cabinet.

Alexander Pechtold, leader of liberal-democratic party D66, and party member Wouter Koolmees were taking part in show of solidarity following a brutal assault on a gay couple that took place in Arnhem over the weekend.

Jasper Vernes-Sewratan and Ronnie Sewratan-Verne had been holding hands when they were set on by a group of youths in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Mr Vernes-Sewratan told NOS: “‘We don’t usually do that, holding hands in public, for the very reason that we don’t want to provoke people. But we’d had a nice evening, it was late and we thought we were alone.

“And then suddenly there was a group of six to eight Moroccan youths. Before I knew it I was on the ground fighting with three men on top of me.”

Images of men holding hands have been appearing on social media with the hashtag #allemannenhandinhand.

https://twitter.com/VeraBauman/status/848852410835623936

Photo By Kurt Löwenstein Educational Center International Team from Germany (qe07 (9)) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons