Nominations Open for Prestigious Utrecht LGBTQ+ Prize
UTRECHT – The search is on for the next recipient of the Annie Brouwer-Korf Prize, an annual award that honours significant contributions to the visibility and acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community in Utrecht. The Utrecht Queer Culture Festival (UQCF), which organizes the award, has opened nominations for the 2026 prize, which includes a €5,000 grant for the winner.
Individuals, projects, or organizations whose work has made a tangible impact on the city's queer community can be nominated. The prize is named in honour of Annie Brouwer-Korf (1946-2017), the former mayor of Utrecht who was a dedicated advocate for LGBTQ+ rights during her tenure from 1999 to 2008.
A Legacy of Advocacy
First awarded in 2007, the prize has become a cornerstone of community recognition in Utrecht. Since 2023, it has been officially integrated into the Utrecht Queer Culture Festival, with the award ceremony held annually on October 11th, National Coming Out Day in the Netherlands. The prize money is intended to be reinvested into initiatives that benefit the local LGBTQ+ community.
Nomination and Selection Process
Nominations for the 2026 prize are open from May 17th to June 30th, 2026. Submissions can be made through an online form provided by the UQCF.
A jury will review all submissions and select three finalists. The winner will then be chosen from this shortlist. The jury for the upcoming award consists of Anne-Marijke Podt, Sophie Schers, Loes Berendsen, Ayden Carlo, and Andre Damian.
Key eligibility criteria include:
- The nominee's work must directly contribute to the acceptance and visibility of the Utrecht LGBTQ+ community.
- Nominees do not need to be based in Utrecht, but their activities must be focused on the city.
- Political parties, corporate networks, previous winners (unless for a new project), UQCF board members, and jury members are not eligible.
- The prize money must be spent within one year on an initiative supporting the Utrecht LGBTQ+ community.
Nominations can be submitted via the official form: Annie Brouwer-Korf Prize Nomination Form.
Past Honorees
The list of previous winners reflects the diversity of Utrecht's queer community. Past recipients include foundational organizations like COC Midden-Nederland (2010), cultural mainstays such as Stichting PANN (2011) and the Queer Film Festival Utrecht (2023), and vital community groups like Utrecht Gender Divers (2015) and Colored Qollective (2025). The most recent winner for 2025 was Colored Qollective, recognized for their work supporting queer, trans, and intersex people of colour.
