Lesbian and Christian

For a long time, the combination of homosexuality and religion was difficult in many churches, but equally so in the gay and lesbian movement itself. In the 1970s, activists often regarded religion as an instrument of oppression and an obstacle to emancipation. Gea Zijlstra saw and sees things differently; she devoted a lifetime to making space for a positive connection between homosexuality and faith.

Gea Zijlstra was born in 1941 in Friesland. She grew up in an Orthodox Protestant milieu; her father was a minister in the Gereformeerde Kerken vrijgemaakt. In 1961, Zijlstra came to Utrecht to study biology. She remained at the university; from 1972, she worked at the Department for Plant Systematics. The systematics of identity boxes is precisely absent in her personal life. Zijlstra is an avowed member of Utrecht's St. John's church (Janskerk) and presents herself as both lesbian and Christian.

Activism

In 1974, Gea co-founded the Churches Information Working Group (Werkgroep Voorlichting Kerken) at COC Utrecht. Using factual information and personal stories, the working group aimed to achieve acceptance for 'homophiles' in the various Dutch denominations and affiliated organisations, such as Christian women's unions and schools. In 1978, Gea helped shape the new national COC Working Group on Faith and Philosophy (Werkgroep Geloof en Levensbeschouwing), which merged into the National Coordination Point for Groups of Church and Homosexuality in the late 1980s. There were by now many groups and initiatives in this field, including women's group Dikes & Theology (1983) and magazine Pious & gay (Vroom & vrolijk) (1989-2007).

The fight for equal treatment

Gea was heavily involved in the long process towards the General Equal Treatment Act (1994). In the early 1970s, action group Man Woman Society (Man Vrouw Maatschappij) initiated a law against discrimination of women and homosexuals, in 1977 there was a positive advice from the Emancipation Commission and in 1981 the government presented a preliminary draft. This led to much criticism, especially from denominational schools and churches. They invoked the constitutional freedom of religion to bar homosexuals from, for instance, church offices or teacher positions in Christian schools. Instead, Zijlstra and others argued that every individual has a right to an existence without discrimination. From 1988, as a member of the then new COC Politics Committee, Zijlstra worked for years on improving the preliminary draft.

Meanwhile, the National Faith and Philosophy Working Group responded to numerous discriminatory practices. Such as a letter on pastoral care for homosexuals sent out into the world by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1986. While AIDS was spreading and claiming many victims, the later Pope Benedict XVI (2005-2013) qualified homosexuality as a sin. In 1989, Zijlstra and other members of Dikes & Theology came out against the synod of the Dutch Reformed Church for leaving too much room to exclude homosexuals from rituals such as the sacrament.

Pink celebrations

The arrows of religious homosexuals also targeted the queer movement. To make it more inclusive, Gea Zijlstra worked for years to integrate an ecumenical celebration at the national Pride Day (Roze Zaterdag), the nationwide demonstration held in the Netherlands from 1979 onwards. Ten years after the tradition began, the time had come. In 1989, Roze Zaterdag kicked off in Haarlem with a church service. In 2012, Zijlstra received a royal honour for her work in the Christian LGBT movement and was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau.

Marijke Huisman and Gianna Mula