The Dutch army will be an official presence at this year’s pride celebrations in Amsterdam, organisers announced this week.

Lesbian and gay soldiers will have their own float in the waterborne parade, which sails through the city’s canal network on 6 August this year. The move has been given the seal of approval by the Dutch Ministry of Defence. Their presence this year is the result of work by SHK, Stichting Homosexualiteit en Krijgsmacht (Homsexuality and Armed Forces Foundation), which campaigns for LGBT rights for military personnel.

Although other organisations such as the police and fire services have been participating in Amsterdam Pride for a number of years, the Dutch army has remained several steps behind. 2010 was the first year that members of the military were allowed to take part in uniform, but only as individuals. In 2008, the country’s Christian Union Minister of Defence, Eimert van Middelkoop, had forbidden uniformed soldiers from joining in the celebrations.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence emphasised that, unlike other participants in the parade, the army boat wouldn’t be a flamboyant one, but that “the soldiers will just be sailing in their uniforms”.

Amsterdam’s Gay Pride organisation said: “This is a huge signal to gays and lesbians in the army that they belong there.”

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