Experience

ANTWERP | Queer Walks mark 30 years of Het Roze Huis

Posted by Timothy on

Antwerp‘s LGBTQIA+ community has not always had an easy place in the city, but over the decades it has found ways to come together, speak out, and fight for equal rights. This year, Het Roze Huis or The Pink House – the umbrella organisation for 31 LGBTQIA+ associations in the province of Antwerp – marks its 30th anniversary. 

The milestone is being celebrated with a guided city walk highlighting key locations and stories from the queer history of Antwerp, from the 1950s to the present day.

The organisation’s headquarters, located on Draakplaats (Dragon Square) in the Zurenborg neighbourhood, houses a wide range of information and support services, from brochures about gender expression and trans rights to activities for adults with autism. Its mission is to challenge rigid thinking and promote equal opportunities and rights for everyone. 

Under its roof operate dozens of member groups, including Antwerp Pride, ANNO (focusing on people from diverse cultural backgrounds), the student association De Flamingo’s, and T-Buddy, which supports trans people through mentoring. The city of Antwerp plays a key role in the organisation’s survival, providing financial and logistical support for its activities.

Queer Walks

For the 30th anniversary, Het Roze Huis has developed a city walk guided by Peter Nijst, a long-standing board member and volunteer. The walk explores the changing queer landscape of Antwerp and the places that once offered safety and community. Nijst explains that the route shows how the city has evolved and how the history of the queer community, though sometimes difficult, has become part of Antwerp’s identity.

The walk begins near Koningin Astridplein (Queen Astrid Square) in Van Schoonhovenstraat, a street still colloquially known as Rue de Vaseline. During the 1990s, this area was home to around thirty gay bars, both rough and refined, forming the heart of Antwerp’s gay nightlife. 

Today, none of those establishments remain, and the street bears no visible trace of its past – no faded signage or rainbow stickers. Nijst notes that the concentration of venues there reflected how many gay men once led hidden lives, seeking refuge in places where they could feel safe together.

Other parts of the city also played a role, including the Schipperskwartier (Sailors’ Quarter), which in earlier years had mixed cafés where cross-dressing was tolerated and social conventions were looser. 

Urinal

Archival photos show places such as the large stone urinal that once stood on Koningin Astridplein – then a known cruising spot – where even the attendant reportedly looked out for visitors, warning them with a specific tune if the police approached.

A few streets away was Café Strange, long regarded as Antwerp’s oldest gay bar. Its final owner, Armand Everaert, took over in the 1980s and continued serving drinks well into his nineties. The interior, a piece of 1980s kitsch, remained untouched until the bar’s recent closure, when the façade was absorbed into a standardised building front.

Two routes

The city walk by Linxplus, called Antwerp Queer Walk, is divided into two routes. The first focuses on the pioneering years of the queer movement and runs from Koningin Astridplein to Hessenhuis. The second, centred on nightlife, starts and ends at Groenplaats (Green Square). Both walks trace the history of activism, community-building, and visibility from the post-war years to today, showing how organisations and meeting spaces contributed to greater acceptance and pride within the LGBTQIA+ community.

Recent evolutions

Despite this progress, Het Roze Huis warns that the acceptance achieved over the past decades can no longer be taken for granted. In recent years, public discourse has grown more polarised, with renewed criticism of queer rights both abroad and in Belgium. The organisation stresses that the fight against discrimination, particularly against trans and non-binary people, remains urgent.

Financial pressures have added to the challenge. The recent cancellation of the Equal Opportunities subsidies has forced Het Roze Huis to operate with tighter budgets, prioritising the continuation of its support for those who often fall through the cracks. 

The organisation is also addressing the changing needs of the community, with more focus on ageing LGBTQIA+ people, intersectionality, mental health, and individuals with disabilities.

Through initiatives such as the Queer Walks and its ongoing advocacy work, Het Roze Huis aims to ensure that the city’s queer history is recognised and that the lessons of solidarity, resilience, and equality continue to shape Antwerp’s future.

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