mamdani took the netherlands' gay prime minister to the lgbt center. the kids brought zines.

Photo: Martijn Beekman, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

via The Advocate, Rob Jetten and Mayor Zohran Mamdani on X, and GO Magazine

When a head of state comes to New York for the United Nations, the city usually shows him a skyline. On Thursday, Zohran Mamdani showed Rob Jetten the zines.

Jetten, the youngest prime minister in Dutch history and the first openly gay one, was in town for the General Assembly and had already stopped by the Stonewall Inn earlier in the week. On the afternoon of Sept. 24 he met Mamdani at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in the West Village. The venue was the mayor's idea: the Center's leadership told the Advocate, which was invited along, that Mamdani's office had reached out to them about hosting.

what mamdani and jetten said

The two sat down in the Center's library with its archivists and with young people from its programs, who showed them artwork and zines that are now part of the archive. "It's a really beautiful thing to hear all of you speak about the importance of this place, having created a community in this center," Mamdani told them. Jetten compared the archive to the way Dutch museums document queer history. "It's all about celebrating the diversity for the community, but also explaining to all the visitors that so much work still has to be done all around the globe," he said.

Jetten posted about the visit in Dutch that evening. He spent most of it on housing, a problem he said the Netherlands and New York share, before getting to LGBTQ rights, which he wrote are under pressure worldwide. Mamdani posted his version on Sunday morning, three days later, which is the most relatable thing a politician has done all year: "New York City is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement and has long been a refuge for those seeking community, dignity, and a place to call home."

how the dutch took it

Back in the Netherlands the reception was less cozy. Much of the Dutch reaction on X came from the right, complaining that the prime minister was touring community centers with a socialist while problems piled up at home. The young people in the library seemed to think it was a good use of a Thursday. One of them, a 19-year-old from the Bronx, told the Advocate that "it's life-saving to have a space [like this]."

Stonewall one day, the Center a few days later. For a man who flew in to address the entire planet, the prime minister found time for a very thorough gay itinerary. We respect a man with priorities.