Amsterdam, a Queer History

Amsterdam has a worldwide reputation as a symbol of tolerance and freedom. In the nineties, Amsterdam was even known as the Gay Capital of the World, but that reputation was not earned without a struggle.

Amsterdam, a Queer History tells the story of homosexual men and women in the Dutch capital, from clandestine homosexual practices in bars and backstreets at the start of the twentieth century, through the initial stages of gay emancipation, to the flourishing and provocative subculture of the seventies onwards and the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2001. Monique Doppert puts all these developments in a clear historical context, focusing on areas where Amsterdam’s rainbow community is most visible: culture, activism, emancipation and the nightlife scene. This lets her show how the city and its queer community have molded and remolded each other over time.

Monique Doppert is a Dutch writer and journalist. She began her career at Folia, the magazine of the University of Amsterdam, and later wrote for leading Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad. At the international organization Hivos, she worked on media and cultural projects in the Middle East. Doppert has written several books on migration, identity, and social change, and co-authored a study on homosexuality in multicultural Dutch society. In 2026, Lezz is More was published, her biography of the Amsterdam entrepreneur, activist and drag queen Richard Keldoulis (aka Jennifer Hopelezz).