Experience

ANTWERP | Queer Walk Central Station to Hessenhuis with Linx+

Posted by Timothy on

On Sunday 17 May 2026 – Norway‘s Constitution Day but also and foremost International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, aka IDAHOT or IDAHOBIT, Dennis and I partook in a Queer Walk by Linx+. A guided walk retracing Antwerp‘s queer history. 

“Linx+ brings people together.” Rooted in the labour movement, it places social struggle and solidarity at its heart. Together, it fosters connection, culture, and engagement. Linx+ has extensive expertise in translating themes from labour culture and struggle into accessible, socio-cultural activities.

It does so for a broad audience, guided by its core values: solidarity, equality, democracy, and justice. Alongside its volunteer groups, Linx+ forms a wide network that contributes to a solidarity-based and inclusive society.

Linx+ has two LGBTQIA+ themed guided walks. ‘Stationswijk‘ (Station area) and ‘Schipperskwartier‘ (Red Light District). The walks are in Dutch.

‘Stationswijk’ focuses on the activist, social history of gay, lesbian, queer, LGBTQIA+ people in Antwerp. ‘Schipperskwartier’, starting and ending at the Groenplaats, focuses on the pink party scene. Going out, clubbing. Dennis and I did the Station area walk. 

A person in a red jacket holding a binder with a historical photograph of a street scene.
A person holding a piece of paper stands in front of a gated entrance with multiple mailboxes numbered 38, 40, and 44.
Street sign for Van Schoonhovenstraat on a brick wall
A street view of a building with a gray façade and white storefront, adjacent to brick and concrete structures, with a parked silver car in the foreground.
Street view of an urban area featuring a sidewalk, an apartment building with decorative architectural elements, and a person walking with a hat. There are parked cars along the street and an overcast sky.
A spacious plaza with several small trees and benches, under a partly cloudy sky. A person walks through the area, surrounded by greenery and a paved surface.
A person holding a photo of a LGBTQ+ pride march, featuring participants with pink flags and banners that read messages like 'We do it all' and 'Homosexuals and lesbians visible again.'
A historic brick building with a sloped roof and multiple windows, featuring an outdoor dining area with tables and planters along the sidewalk.
Queer Walk.

From the station to the Hessenhuis

I’m not going to spoil the tour. But it starts on Koningin Astridplein, where two guides talk about the cruising hotspot of the urinals on the square. Madame Pipi Lisette was a hero, as she turned a blind eye on the extracurricular activities but also stood on the lookout for police. 

While sodomy or gay sex was decriminalised in Belgium even before the 1830 independence, when Republican France invaded the Austrian Low Countries in 1794, it imported its codified codex of laws, which did not include a criminalisation of sodomy or buggery, public indecency was and is forbidden and was used against gays. 

From there, the tour takes us to a few former hotspots: a cruising alley, the Van Schoonhovenstraat, Café Strange run by Armand Everaert, the Gespreks- en OntmoetingsCentrum (GOC), the Sint-Jansplein, and the tour ends at Hessenhuis.

In some two hours, we learned about the pioneering years of post-World War II gay Antwerp. The walk was very interactive. Other participants organised the Roze Zaterdagen or Pink Saturdays in Antwerp in the 1990s. So it was an exchange of stories and anecdotes. 

Linx+ organises Queer Walks open for individuals and you can book a group tour as well if you can assemble enough people. 

Queer Antwerp

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