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Wednesday, 18 June 2014 - 09:31
Tilburg to build "Gay Village"
[Story Update: This story has been found to be a hoax] Project developer Blauwhoed wants to build a Gay Village near Tilburg. An exclusive neighborhood for homosexuals, bisexuals and transgenders. According to the Brabants Dagblad, there is not yet much enthusiasm among the LGBT community to reserve a place in the neighborhood.
The average price of a home in Gay Village will be around €250,000. The project developer has an agreement with the province of Noord-Brabant about the MOB complex on the north side of Tilburg. This area was first meant to become a shopping mall, but research will determine whether there is enough interest in an LGBT-only village.
The initial selling point of the Gay Village is a safe space for LGBTs to live. Recently, there has been a rise in violence and oppression against gay and lesbian individuals in The Netherlands. Just last weekend, a gay man was assaulted in Amsterdam when walking along the Prinsengracht with his boyfriend.
Blauwhoed points to research from the Central Bureau for Statistics from last year, which reveals that 22 percent of homosexual males feel unsafe in their neighborhood.
If the plan succeeds, then Tilburg would be the first city in The Netherlands with a so-called Gay Village. There is already some criticism against the idea, however. On Twitter, for example, Dutch television presenter Cornald Maas tweeted: "Gay neighborhood in Tilburg? Disgraceful and moronic plan. Obsolete ghetto formation in an otherwise safe heterosexual society?"
Other critiques also make the 'ghetto' analogy, and emphasize that this idea would segregate the gay community from the heterosexual community.