Tolerance vs Inclusion
Among those in the US who know anything about The Netherlands in the first place, it seems to conjure an image of social liberalism in a wet climate. The Netherlands is known as being the first country in the world to legalize marriage equality. We think of Amsterdam as the gay capital of the world. As we were preparing for our move, I heard a lot of folks in the queer family say something along the lines of "Wow, you're moving to a place where I'd actually be safe" with a hint of wistful jealousy in their voice. All of this is true. It is a socially liberal place with a climate that many would think is less than ideal, but I find rather perfect. Gay rights are so engrained in the psyche of the population that the far-right parties use homophobia as the excuse for not wanting Muslims in the country. It is, in fact, much safer here for queer people than in the United States and many, many other nations. And the Dutch people as a whole...