Article 1 of the Constitution explicitly states that people may not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation or disability. The Senate approved that proposal on Tuesday. Interest groups speak of a historic victory.
It was already forbidden to discriminate against these groups of people, but that was not yet explicitly stated. Interest groups therefore fought for years for this addition to the law.
From now on, the government must explicitly take restrictions and sexual orientation into account in discrimination cases. It must also do this when reviewing legislation and regulations.
D66, GroenLinks and PvdA had submitted the proposal. Because it concerns a constitutional amendment, both the House of Representatives and the Senate had to vote twice. First before the elections, then again after the elections. In the last vote, a two-thirds majority had to support the proposal, and that has now happened.
Wat stond er tot nu toe in Artikel 1 van de Grondwet?
“Allen die zich in Nederland bevinden, worden in gelijke gevallen gelijk behandeld. Discriminatie wegens godsdienst, levensovertuiging, politieke gezindheid, ras, geslacht of op welke grond dan ook, is niet toegestaan.”
‘Society must be accessible to everyone’
“Adding the disability basis to Article 1 is historic news,” Illya Soffer, director of Elke(in), told NU.nl. Elke(in) is an organization for people with a disability or chronic illness. “The government is given an additional task to permanently improve and strengthen the position of people with disabilities. Not only in legislation, but also in practice.”
According to Soffer, this is badly needed, because people with disabilities still experience discrimination and exclusion on a daily basis. For example, blind people with an assistance dog often have to deal with difficulties. For example, assistance dogs often have to stay outside at hotels, schools, restaurants and in the GP’s waiting room.
People with disabilities also experience difficulty in finding suitable work. According to Elke(in) they are still regularly rejected because of their disability.
In addition, the expansion of Article 1 also creates more awareness, says Soffer. “It is necessary to make society accessible to everyone.”
‘Guarantee that rights will last for years’
In addition to Elke(in), the LGBTI organization COC has worked for years to amend the constitution for the rights of the LGBTI community. “Embedding in the Constitution offers a guarantee that we will still be able to enjoy our hard-won rights in fifty or a hundred years’ time,” said COC chairman Astrid Oosenburg.
She also calls the amendment to the Constitution “a task for today’s politicians to tackle discriminatory violence, bullying in schools and other forms of discrimination”.
A similar bill was also submitted in 2010, but it did not receive a majority of the votes.
‘Discrimination on any ground is not allowed’
According to the initiators, the fact that sexual orientation and having a disability were not yet explicitly included in the Constitution gives the impression that these forms of discrimination are less important than others. This while the position of these groups still has to improve considerably.
Yet some politicians feel that specifically mentioning disability and sexual orientation would limit Article 1. SP member Tiny Kox wonders whether the law is now ‘finished’ and what this means for the discrimination prohibitions that are not explicitly included in the law.
“Everyone before the law and in the law is equal. Discrimination on any ground is not allowed,” said Annabel Nanninga (JA21) during a Senate debate about the proposal in December. She thinks the change in law is purely symbolic. Her group prefers to see all grounds removed from the article of the law.
