Last week, the winners of The Hague Queer Awards were announced at pop podium PAARD. Alderman Mariëlle Vavier presented cheques to three winners: one worth €500 and two worth €2,500.
Suzy Byczuk received the title ‘Queer Uitblinker’, for their efforts in making The Hague University of Applied Sciences a more inclusive environment, with a focus on lhbti+ers and neurodivergence.
Queer Mind Foundation was awarded the ‘Outstanding Achievement’ prize for their approach in providing safe sleeping places combined with personal counselling for homeless queer youth.
Ricardo Lemmer received the Queer Lifetime Achievement Award, for his years of commitment to The Hague’s queer community. This was the surprise element of the evening, as the award was kept secret until the time of presentation.
The evening was presented by Mandy Woelkens, with two performances by singer Shary-An.
Jury
The jury, comprising of Victor Jarzagaray Valencia, Eveline van de Putte and Ryan Ramharak, came to a decision after careful consideration. Van de Putte says: ‘All the nominees deserve recognition, as they are making efforts to raise the visibility of our community. Making the choice was a real challenge, as the contributions were of very high quality. We focused on the ‘silent forces’ – the people who often remain invisible, but make a huge impact behind the scenes.’ Jarzagaray Valencia adds: ‘We finally decided that Suzy is the Queer Outstanding Performer of 2024 because we find it admirable that someone so young is already making such an impact. The award for Outstanding Achievement is for Queer Mind Foundation, they stood out because they provide safe sleeping places combined with personal counselling to homeless queer youth.’
Lifetime Achievement Award
Although two awards in the Queer Outstanding and Outstanding Achievement categories were announced beforehand, a third award was only revealed during the evening itself. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Ricardo Lemmer, co-founder of Black Queer Holland. Ricardo has been committed to the visibility and acceptance of people of colour within the queer community for more than 30 years. Besides an award, Ricardo was also presented with a cheque worth €2,500 euro, which should benefit the emancipation of queer people in The Hague.
About the Hague Queer Awards
The Hague Queer Awards are being presented under this name for the first time this year. Previously, the municipality of The Hague presented the John Blankenstein Award to individuals, organisations or initiatives working for the acceptance and emancipation of queer persons in the city. The Hague Queer Awards build on the legacy of the John Blankenstein Prize while responding to contemporary community dynamics and diversity and looking wider than acceptance and emancipation of queer persons in the field of sport.
Press image provided to THOL: Suzy Byczuk, Mariëlle Vavier en Jean-Bernard Maweja © Michel Mees.jpg
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