The so-called ‘anti-gay declaration’ of Reformed primary schools, which parents are required to sign, caused a great deal of controversy in parliament and the media two years ago. Slob, who was Minister for Primary and Secondary Education at the time, came under fire because he explained in the House of Representatives that, under the applicable laws, schools have the freedom to reject homosexuality in statements of identity. Under pressure from the House, he announced the following day that he would nevertheless investigate the schools and possibly impose fines if they failed to comply with the law.

Despite the controversy, little has changed, according to new research by Pointer. Whereas two years ago 29 of the 163 Reformed schools with an online school profile or similar document took a negative view of homosexual relationships or same-sex marriage, the figure is now 36 out of 161. “According to the Bible, sexuality involves forming an unbreakable bond in a marriage between one man and one woman, and it is given a place in light of this,” the majority of these schools write.

‘Safe at school?’

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) examined the statements of identity in 2020 and 2021 and found no content that violated the law. “Explicitly rejecting homosexuality is not permitted,” a ministry spokesperson says. “There are passages in statements of identity that are not in themselves (obviously) contrary to laws and regulations, but that do point to risks. For example, the passage that was mentioned.”

In such cases, where the statement is not (obviously) contrary to the law but risks are nevertheless identified, the ministry wants to look more closely at how the school’s identity is expressed in practice. “Do students feel safe at school? How are the core objectives concerning sexuality and sexual diversity addressed? Are there statements by administrators or staff that point to an (socially) unsafe or unequal school climate? The concerns about this have not diminished in recent years. That is precisely why we need to take additional steps. Identifying issues more quickly, monitoring more closely and imposing stronger sanctions. We are now developing this further with the inspectorate, so that every school is safe for all students, regardless of whom they fall in love with,” the spokesperson says.

‘Spiritual battle’

The Reformed schools whose views on homosexuality are unclear also turn out to reject it in the majority of cases, both primary and secondary schools. Virtually all Reformed schools are affiliated with the Association for Reformed Education (VGS), comprising 175 schools with nearly 68,000 students. In a joint statement, the schools wrote that “on the basis of the Bible, sexuality belongs in a relationship between one man and one woman.”

Chairman Pieter Moens emphasizes that the schools affiliated with VGS provide a socially safe climate for their students. “Based on our faith and our confession, we believe that a homosexual lifestyle is not in line with the Bible. If you think that it is not right, you will also try to keep your students away from it. Even though that is completely at odds with societal views. We are very well aware of that,” Moens says in a Pointer television broadcast.

The Education Inspectorate considers Moens’s response concerning. “Schools must teach students that they may be who they want to be. They must allow room for and respect students’ lifestyles or beliefs. The VGS chairman’s statement may conflict with the duty of schools to teach tolerance, non-discrimination and autonomy. If this statement had appeared in a school’s identity profile, we would regard it as a risk that things might not be going well at that school. We will examine how schools deal with this in practice and whether we need to take action,” the Education Inspectorate says.

Pointer investigated the Bijbels Beraad Man / Vrouw (M/V) foundation, to which VGS is affiliated. Together with Orthodox Catholics, Reformed Christians and evangelicals, the organization campaigns against sexual diversity and the ‘gay lobby’. “There is an important spiritual battle to be fought against gender ideology as an intrusive and aggressive expression of unbiblical thinking,” Bijbels Beraad M/V states. The conservative Christian organization gives guest lectures and workshops at schools affiliated with VGS to teach students “to become a man or woman after God’s own heart.” “Such a life is the only true answer to the world’s gender ideology,” the organization states.

COC response

COC, the advocacy organization for LGBT+ people, considers the school profiles unacceptable because they create an unsafe climate for LGBT+ students. “Over the years, we have repeatedly urged politicians to put an end to these declarations in which schools reject LGBT+ people, and this led to two crystal-clear motions in the House of Representatives last October. The government still has not responded to those motions; Minister Wiersma has now promised a response ‘before the summer’. We believe this is moving far too slowly; these declarations must be ended quickly,” says spokesperson Philip Tijsma. “The passage cited effectively rejects lesbian, gay and bisexual people and their way of life. After all, it contains not only the theory (‘According to the Bible, sexuality involves forming an unbreakable bond in a marriage between one man and one woman’) but also a clear instruction for life: ‘and it is given a place in light of this. In this regard, the biblical precepts are binding for sexual life.’”