COC celebrates a milestone and sends a clear message: Netherlands must lead in equal rights. The organisation fights for gay, lesbian, transgender people for decades. They see current opportunities being missed.

Many countries made big steps recently. Think about marriage rights, adoption, gender recognition. But progress is unequal everywhere. Netherlands led here for long. The first same-sex marriage happened here in 2001. But COC sees we are more cautious now.

It is not only about big laws. COC sees gays and lesbians face discrimination daily. At workplaces and in education. So the organisation calls for more effort: better legal protection and more social attention.

COC asks simply: why not lead again? Other countries watch us. We have knowledge and experience. We just need to prioritise it again.