Last week, the province of Friesland was the last to join as a rainbow province. In doing so, they are ensuring an inclusive LGBT+ policy in the province of Friesland and will henceforth raise the rainbow flag on Coming Out Day (11 October).

The John Blankenstein Foundation immediately noticed that sports academies and sports clubs in Friesland were putting their money where their mouth was. As a result, requests for workshops at academies and clubs in Friesland are coming in steadily. Last week The first online workshop organised by the JBF has already taken place in Friesland. and there are five more workshops planned in Friesland in the coming weeks.

The responses from participants were very positive: “The workshop taught us a lot and was very interactive.”, “It was a different topic and it was nice to discuss it with each other.” and “The workshop really made me think about this; I hadn't considered it before.”The John Blankenstein Foundation has provided further guidance so that participants can continue to work on this in the future and reflect on it.

Curious about how this works? Are you a member of a sports club, enrolled in a sports programme, or a policymaker at the local or provincial level, and would you like to contribute to greater inclusivity and safety for LGBT+ athletes? Please do not hesitate to contact us.We will then work with you to determine what we can do to provide tailor-made services for your sports training programme, sports club, local authority or regional authority.