Mayor of Amsterdam will take part in 2008 Amsterdam Gay Pride Canal parade

The mayor of Amsterdam, Mr Job Cohen, will be on one of the boats in the 2008 Amsterdam Gay Pride canal parade.

The Amsterdam canal parade is one of Amsterdam's big yearly events, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators each year. A large number of boats, with several themes, will go through (mainly) the Prinsengracht canal, to celebrate the yearly Gay Pride.

It is the first time that the mayor of Amsterdam also takes part. He will take part with two aldermen of the city of Amsterdam, Mrs Gehrels and Mr Herrema (both openly gay). On the boat, the mayor will receive a delegation of the Turkish gay group Lambda.

More news about the 2008 Amsterdam Gay pride tour:

- The Amsterdam Police will have its own boat in the gay pride tour.
This is for the first time. The police department wants to communicate this way that tolerance is very important. The police officers will be in official uniform on the boat.

- ING Bank the first main sponsor of Gay Pride
ProGay, the organizer of the gay pride tour, has signed a contract with ING Bank, that makes it the first official main sponsor of the Gay Pride event.
In past years, several large companies have supported the Gay Pride tour: Shell, ING, ABN Amro Bank, IBM, and TNT (mail company).

- Christian boat in the Gay Pride tour
For the first time, a group of Christians will have its own boat in the Gay Pride tour. The group wants to create a bridge between the gay community and the Christian community. The boat will be decorated with a rainbow, both a Christion symbol of hope and an international gay symbol.

- Empty boat
The third world support organization Hivos takes part with an empty boat in the Gay Pride tour. The empty boat symbolizes the position of gays and lesbians in the developing nations, which is often very bad. Homosexuality carries the death penalty in 7 countries, and is a punishable offence in 79 countries, mostly in Africa and Asia.

- Two cabinet ministers also take part
Two ministers of the government will also be on one of the boats. They are Mr Ronald Plasterk (Minister of Education, Culture and Science) and Mrs Guusje ter Horst (Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations). She is officially head of the police in the Netherlands and protects the Constitution. This way she wants issue a message against discrimination.
Minister Plasterk has gay emancipation in his portfolio.

The organization of the tour reports that a record number of boats have registered. New registration will be placed on a waiting list.

The Gay Pride Canal tour is on Saturday August 2, and starts at 2pm.

See also the map of the route of the Amsterdam Gay Pride Canal Parade.

Official Gay Pride website.