The Death of Pim. Openly-gay Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was assassinated Monday while campaigning in the Netherlands. The BBC's website blasted out a headline that read "Dutch Far-Right Leader Shot." But Fortuyn, who was openly and proudly gay and supported the Dutch gay marriage law, was hardly a right winger as we understand the term.
In fact, the former academic seemed to support personal liberties on many fronts. But he was an adamant foe of Islamic immigration into The Netherlands. According to the Financial Times , his view was, "There are 16 million Dutch. This is enough. The country is full."
The Dutch provide immigrants (of whom about 800,000 are Muslims, I'm told) with immediate and generous welfare benefits, whether they show any inclination to become productive residents or not, which complicates the issue -- especially when many immigrants seem to devote themselves to undermining the liberal society the Dutch have created. Fortuyn, in fact, had stated strongly condemned the new immigrants for their fervent opposition to women's equality and to gay rights. Dutch Muslim clerics, for instance, have labeled homosexuality as a "shameless," "scandalous," "intolerable" "sickness" that "could destroy society."
Again, to quote the Financial Times:
"Mr Fortuyn had been campaigning on a ticket of ending immigration and reforming public services. Not only was he openly homosexual, but he made clear his sexual orientation informed his politics. He wanted to halt the arrival of immigrants from Muslim countries because he feared they were eroding the country's tolerance of diversity."
Some "right winger" indeed.