Stories from Utrecht’s queer history

Flying leaf (fragment) released at the execution of three sodomites in Delft, July 24, 1730.

Sodomites as scapegoats

The sodomite persecution of 1730 marked a turning point because the ‘silent sin’ was no longer hidden from the general public.

Session of the Fifth International Congress of Criminal Anthropology in the auditorium of the University of Amsterdam, September 1901

From sodomite to homosexual

In the 19th century a whole procession of experts were looking for explanations for deviant sexual behaviour.

Utrecht's memorial plaque for the sodomy trials

After the liberation, war memorials were erected everywhere. In 1999, Utrecht received a memorial stone for the persecution of sodomites.

The Nieuwekade in 1967 with the urinal 'de Mosterd' to the right of the van, which was watched by officers of the vice police from Van Rijn's Mustard Factory (Het Utrechts Archief, image collection)

Utrecht's victims of discriminatory criminal law

It is no longer possible to retrieve how many gay men and lesbian women in Utrecht have fallen victim to art. 248bis of the Criminal Code.

Sobrinobar in 1986, a year before it closed.

1949-1979 Changing times

Following the example of the church, science and government, most Dutch people in the post-war period regarded homosexuality as a sin, disease or crime.

Hunger cloth by Rev. Jan Haen and the Dutch Working Group of Catholic Gay Pastors, 1987

LGBTQIA+ Christians in Utrecht City

In Utrecht the relationship between the Christian faith and homosexuality changed from the 1950s onwards. Activists demanded acceptance and organized demonstrations.

Cover of Men who are 'different'. Original realistic novel by Jan Brandts published in 1963 by Orion publishers in Amsterdam.

The Tragedy of a Human Life

In the 'realistic novel' 'Men who are 'different'' its from 1963 the author uses the 1960s setting of Utrecht to make the story as realistic as possible.