The stories in words and pictures of five LGBTQI+ icons and their shoulders on which the rainbow community stands
When
1 March – 30 June 2024
Where
IHLIA Plaza (3rd floor OBA Oosterdok)
Free entrance
Mo-Fr: 08.00 – 22.00 hrs
Sa-Su: 10.00 – 20.00 hrs
As a rainbow community, we stand on the shoulders of Pink Giants (Roze Reuzen). In this podcast, historian Mark Bergsma talks with five important Dutch activist icons from our Dutch queer history: Maaike Meijer, Lionel Jokoe, Twie Tjoa, Corine van Dun and Marty van Kerkhof. They organized, protested and rebelled, each in their own way. And that at a time when “being different” was viewed with suspicion.
Listen in on their stories in the podcast Roze Reuzen. In honor of its first season, this in-depth exhibit was created with historical material from Europe’s largest queer archive IHLIA LGBTI Heritage.
Guests podcast
Lionel Jokhoe
In 1980, the Surinamese-Hindustani Lionel Jokhoe (b. 1951) wrote his pioneering thesis entitled Homophiles from Suriname. A forgotten group in Dutch society? He felt doubly discriminated against: by white Dutch for his skin color and by Surinamese for his orientation. After he explained his thesis on the radio, the idea arose to organize a meeting especially for Surinamese homosexuals in the Netherlands. It was the beginning of the working group SUHO. SUHO organized various discussion groups, published the SUHO Newspaper and through various means more awareness was created for the position of Surinamese homosexuals.
Marty van Kerkhof
Marty van Kerkhof (b. 1950) founder of action group the Rooie Flikkers and organizer of many playful actions. In the Rooie Flikker Krant they advocated that homosexuals should behave more self-consciously and claim space. From this energy also came the punk band “Tedje and the Faggots. With provocative, erotic lyrics, the band spread their message with performances throughout the Netherlands. After his Rooie Flikker adventure, Marty played an important role as a journalist in researching and breaking the taboos surrounding HIV and AIDS.
Maaike Meijer
Maaike Meijer (b. 1949) participated in the lesbian discussion group Purple Mien during her college days, where she gained insight into the patriarchal structure of society and learned to be proud of her lesbian identity. She joined forces with three other women to radically spread their message and founded Purple September. The action group claimed space for lesbian feminists, who felt excluded from existing groups such as Dolle Mina and Man Woman Society. After the dissolution of Purple September, Maaike focused on academic life for many years. In 1997, she was appointed professor of Gender Studies at Maastricht University. To this day, the themes of gender and diversity play an important role in her work.
Corine van Dun
After years of searching, Corine van Dun (b. 1953) goes into transition in the 1980s with all its consequences. Both medically, socially and professionally she has to endure a lot. From 2010, she turns her experiences into activism and becomes a board member of Transgender Network Netherlands. During her presidency, the organization makes great strides in the field of transgender emancipation. In 2018, she joins the Utrecht City Council. From 2022, she is chair of the Transmotion Foundation, the organizer of the Transcreen Film Festival, and in 2023 she was chair of the patient organization Transvision.
Twie Tjoa
Twie Tjoa (b. 1943) was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, fled to Suriname in the 1960s before studying in the Netherlands. Back in Suriname, she became the first female director at the Ministry of Labor. Moving to the Netherlands in 1995, the organizational psychologist and feminist became involved in the ZMV (black migrant women) movement and became president of ZAMI, a meeting center and platform for ZMV women. Since 2012, Twie has been active as a board member at Mil Colores, also a platform and meeting place for women, and in particular for women from lesbian and migrant backgrounds.
Photo: The five Pink Giants – from left to right: Corine van Dun, Twie Tjoa, Marty van Kerkhof, Maaike Meijer, Lionel Jokhoe. Illustrated by Avalon Nuovo
About the production: Roze Reuzen is a podcast of platform With Pride and queer magazine Winq. The production was made possible thanks to IHLIA LGBTI Heritage, Friends of IHLIA, bureau Van Gisteren and Spraakmaker Media
Note: The exhibition and podcast are in Dutch
READ | WATCH | LISTEN
READ | WATCH | LISTEN
The so called Life books of two Roze Reuzen have also been published previously (in Dutch):
Twie Tjoa – Liefde in beweging
Marty van Kerkhof – Bekentenissen van een ongeleid projectiel
