29 Jul

20:00

Rode Hoed

Keizersgracht 102, Amsterdam

An intergenerational tribute where a new generation honors the 'Pink Giants' of the Dutch queer community who paved the way for today's freedoms.

Ode to Pink Giants

More info & tickets

As a rainbow community, we stand on the shoulders of giants. People who organized, protested, and rebelled in a time when they were viewed with suspicion. They paved the way for the freedom we celebrate so naturally today. But the struggle is never completely over. And so, during Ode to Pink Giants, we reflect on the past and present, and we provide a stage for a new generation to pay tribute to their Pink Giant. An intergenerational homage, so to speak. Maaike Meijer, Glenn Helberg, and Thomas Wormgoor will be put in the spotlight.

About Ode to Pink Giants

A contemporary voice comes face to face with the Pink Giant who shaped them and gave them the courage to seek new paths. Each tribute follows the same rhythm: first, historian on heels Mark Bergsma talks with the giant, while archival footage brings the stories to life. This is followed by love in an art form, by the tribute-giver themselves. So, not a dusty history lesson, but living, intergenerational queer history. For the combative generations of the past and everyone who wants to know on whose shoulders we stand, so that we, as a rainbow community with all its allies, can move forward bravely.

In collaboration with IHLIA LGBTI Heritage

This program is created in collaboration with IHLIA LGBTI Heritage, the largest queer archive in Europe. Ode to Pink Giants builds on IHLIA's project of the same name: a podcast and exhibition that preserve the stories of the icons who have shaped Dutch queer history.

Pink Giants

Maaike Meijer

Maaike Meijer (1949) is a literary scholar and one of the most influential voices of Dutch lesbian feminism. In the 1970s, she co-founded Paarse September, the activist group that demanded space for lesbian women who felt unseen within the existing women's movement. She later became a professor of Gender Studies in Maastricht. Gender, language, and visibility are a common thread throughout her work, from the streets to the professor's chair.

Glenn Helberg

Glenn Helberg (1955) is a transcultural psychiatrist and activist, born in Curaçao and rooted in a family history that encompasses the entire colonial past. He looks at identity, origin, and exclusion with the perspective of someone who knows both the consulting room and the street. In public debate, he is a sharp voice on racism, decolonization, and what it means to be yourself. As he says it: if you see him as a person, you see the colonial past.

Thomas Wormgoor

Thomas Wormgoor (1956) is a pioneer of Dutch trans emancipation. After his own transition, he tirelessly advocated for others as a developmental psychologist and lawyer who wanted to improve care from within. He co-founded Transgender Netwerk Nederland, Transvisie, and Transvisie Zorg, and helped draft the first quality standard for transgender care. A bridge-builder between experience and policy, between self-emancipation and the system.

Tribute Givers

Tessel ten Zweege

Tessel ten Zweege (1998) is the author of the feminist non-fiction books 'You Would Never Allow That', 'Femicide: Till death do us part', and her queer debut novel 'Lik'. She contributed to the collections 'Optimistic Queer Handbook for Harder Times' and 'Minafest' by Dolle Mina. She wrote, researched for, and presented the web series 'Tessel In Cyberspace' about online activism for Omroep HUMAN. She directed the documentary 'The Feminists of Today' and does research and presents for Omroep ZWART. She is also a book editor for ELLE and writes for OneWorld, NRC, Autostraddle, LINDA.meiden, and Het Parool.

Xillan Macrooy

Xillan Macrooy (1993) is a Surinamese-Dutch storyteller in music, literature, and theater. As a son of multiple worlds, the continuous transformation of identity plays an important role in his work. In 2025 and 2026, as a creator, he will explore new ways to celebrate his multiplicity, aiming to build new artistic worlds that offer space for both (Surinamese queer) legacy and innovation. Besides his debut novel 'People as Suns and People as Moons', he also created the performance 'A Coming of (R)age Ritual' and his music album 'Son' will be released.

Moderator

Martijn Kamphorst

Martijn Kamphorst (1989) writes, speaks, and advises on gender, sexuality, and inclusive language. His book 'Optimistic Queer Handbook for Harder Times' was recently published, a collection full of hope and tools from well-known queers and allies. From 2018 to 2026, he was editorial chief and then editor-in-chief of Winq, the Netherlands' largest magazine for and by the rainbow community. He is currently making a career change from media to primary education.