Legacy of Pim Fortuyn was bigotry and hatred

The rise to political prominence and the death of Pim Fortuyn provoked debate in the lesbian and gay community over what he represented.

Pim Fortuyn’s party, List Pim Fortuyn, stood in the Netherlands elections on a clear platform of curbing further immigration. Fortuyn formed part of the growth of the far right throughout Europe, represented in the rise of Le Pen’s Front Nationale in France, Jorg Haider in Austria, and the election of 3 BNP candidates in the local elections in Burnley on 2 May. However, the fact that Pim Fortuyn was gay was posed as a contradiction: the Pink Paper, for example, described him on 17 May as ‘on one hand a camp, queeny intellectual, a gay freethinker…on the other, he was a non-PC nationalist, who flew in the face of traditional Dutch tolerance by blaming an influx of Muslims for the erosion of Dutch liberalism’. The reality is that the rise in racism throughout Europe, is being reflected inside the gay community too.

The prime target for Pim Fortuyn, Le Pen, Jorg Haider and the BNP has been the Muslim communities. These populations face ignorance, negative stereotyping, discrimination, and rising numbers of racist attacks. Pim Fortuyn’s particular targeting of immigration from Muslim countries had an extra spin to it — by whipping up fear amongst lesbians and gay men that their rights would be under threat — difficult given the oppressed position Muslim and other black communities occupy right across Europe. The result was to contribute to an Islamophobic climate. The reality is that a tolerant and diverse society that welcomes refugees and immigrants benefits lesbians and gay men, and that lesbians and gay men also seek asylum.

Unfortunately, this is not understood by the Pink Paper, which claimed : ‘the unpleasant reality is that, as more Muslims arrive, the Islamic right will gain more influence, causing problems for the LGBT community, especially gay Muslims. Alternatively, and even worse, immigration could force the further rise of the British hard right…many of Fortuyn’s views were unacceptable but he did offer a route — although not necessarily a good route — out of the immigration problem for gays.’

Blaming immigrants and asylum seekers for a rise in racism is not new. This argument was used to prevent Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany settling in Britain by claiming that further immigration would fuel anti-semitism. Blaming Muslims for Islamophobia and the rise of the far right is just as wrong as claiming that lesbians and gay men being open about their sexuality are responsible for fueling homophobia. Scapegoating vulnerable communities such as asylum seekers only fuels hatred and intolerance against us all.
Bigotry and racism have no place in the campaign for a better society for lesbians and gay men. The nail bombings of Soho, Brick Lane and Brixton should have taught us the lesson that unity against bigotry and hatred is the only way forward.

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