Rob Jetten had a particularly fitting New York stop during his trip for the United Nations General Assembly: the Stonewall Inn.
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The Dutch prime minister, who became the Netherlands’ first openly gay prime minister this year, visited the legendary Greenwich Village bar on Monday, taking in a place whose history is inseparable from the modern LGBTQ rights movement.
For an openly gay head of government, it is hard to imagine a more loaded bar stop.
A Prime Minister Walks Into Stonewall
Jetten toured the historic site and reflected on the people whose activism helped push LGBTQ rights forward.
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“We stand on the shoulders of great people that here started this fight for equal rights,” Jetten said.
Stonewall Inn co-owner Kurt Kelly also spoke about the landmark’s place in LGBTQ history, particularly the 1969 uprising that helped make the bar a global symbol of resistance.
“That’s why we have gay pride parades around the world (because) of what happened that night here,” Kelly said.
Jetten stressed that preserving places connected to LGBTQ history matters, particularly as new generations inherit rights that previous generations had to fight to secure.
“Historical grounds like these are important, and we will make sure we’ll never give up,” he said.
And yes, Jetten reportedly enjoyed a beer at the Stonewall Inn while attendees applauded him. Political diplomacy rarely gets quite this on-the-nose.
Jetten Shows Why Representation Matters
Jetten’s Stonewall visit was followed by a reception hosted by the LGBTQ Victory Institute, a nonprofit organization that encourages and trains potential LGBTQ political candidates, including in communities where LGBTQ representation can be more difficult to achieve. For aspiring candidates, simply seeing someone like Jetten in one of the world’s most visible political roles can carry considerable weight.
Evan Low, the organization’s CEO, said prospective candidates often wonder whether entering politics is worth the personal and professional challenges.
“Is it worth it? These often are the questions that we get asked about, I don’t know if I can continue, I might be passionate to serve, but is it worth the sacrifice?” Low said.
Jetten’s position offers a pretty powerful answer without needing another campaign speech.
“You can’t be what you can’t see. And so, he’s a reflection of the importance of representation,” Low said.
LGBTQ Progress Is Not a Finished Story
The Netherlands has historic ties to New York City and recently marked the 25th anniversary of becoming the first country to legalize marriage equality. But Jetten used his visit to make clear that LGBTQ progress is not something that can simply be filed away as history and forgotten.
“You cannot only be happy for such an historical moment. You have to understand that the emancipation of a community will never stop, and you have to be aware of what the new threats for our community will be,” he said.
That message makes his Stonewall visit feel especially appropriate. The bar is a monument to what happened when LGBTQ people refused to accept the status quo, but it is also a reminder that rights can never be treated as permanently guaranteed.
For Jetten, the trip offered a chance to stand inside one of the most recognizable places in LGBTQ history as someone who now occupies a position that would have been difficult to imagine for many of the people who fought there.
And judging by the applause—and that beer—it seems Stonewall was happy to have him.
Source: ABC