The Dutch Government is giving public money to ex-gay groups in the Netherlands. RefoAnders received 84,000 euros (about $108,000), while Onze Weg received 50,000 euros ($65,000).

Dutch newspaper De Pers accused the organizations of supporting reparative therapy to try to “cure” gays, though the groups denied it. Critics have labelled the decision to award the grants a “compromise” with conservative Christian political party ChristenUnie.

Emancipation Minister Ronald Plasterk defended the subsidies, however, saying that such organizations had overcome “important hurdles” in making homosexuality discussable among Christians, “where there would otherwise be no homo-emancipation at all.”

Despite the controversy, the Netherlands is traditionally regarded as one of the most progressive countries in the world on issues of sexuality and equality, such as same-sex marriage.

Categorized in:

Tagged in:

,