no. 07-00-368/2023-02 date: 10/10/2023

OPINION

This opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint of the Association … from B. against A.A. due to discrimination based on gender identity. The complaint stated that A.A. , …, wrote two short posts on the Facebook social network on the occasion of the victory of a transgender model in the Miss Netherlands 2023 pageant – in the first message he stated “O tempora o mores … The female representative of the Netherlands in the Miss Universe pageant is a male representative (with an emoticon who laughs)! An attack on the traditional family from all sides, that’s it!”, and in another post he repeated the discriminatory attitude, saying that he “immediately flees to Bosnia as soon as he hears that a man won the Miss Netherlands pageant”. Photos of posts on A.A.’s profile were submitted as an attachment to the complaint. In the statement of A.A. it was specified that “the post is certainly a post on my personal profile on the social network Facebook”, as well as that the photo submitted with the complaint as his post does not exist as such on his profile on social networks, i.e. it is not accurate in content. With the statement of A.A. no evidence was submitted that disputes the allegations of the complaint, while a direct inspection of his profile page on Facebook revealed that he posted and changed posts that, even after the statement, contained comments about the fact that a trans woman was chosen as Miss Netherlands, i.e. comments that allude to the fact that a man is in question. Following the provisions of Article 45, paragraph 2 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, A.A. did not submit evidence to dispute the allegations of the complaint. In connection with the above, the Commissioner issued the opinion that A.A, …, violated the dignity of trans persons based on gender identity by publicly expressing on his profile on the social network Facebook views that create a humiliating and offensive environment, thereby violating provisions of Article 12 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. The Commissioner recommended A.A. to remove posts from his profile on the Facebook social network related to the contest for Miss Netherlands; to meet with the complainants, i.e. representatives of the civil society organization that deals with the protection of trans persons in order to become more familiar with the problems and challenges faced by trans persons, as well as to ensure that in the future, within the framework of his activities, he does not violate legal regulations on the prohibition of discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković