Young people in the Netherlands are becoming less accepting of homosexuality, according to recent research from the Trimbos Institute and Utrecht University. The sharpest decline is among secondary-school pupils, raising urgent questions about school safety, online influence, social pressure and how firmly institutions defend LGBTQ+ rights.

Essential Takeaways

  • Acceptance has fallen sharply: Positive attitudes declined among both boys and girls in the latest research.
  • The drop is especially stark among boys: Support fell from 40% to 22% over four years.
  • Girls also showed a major decline: The proportion expressing a positive attitude dropped from 78% to 51%.
  • The issue reaches beyond opinion polls: LGBTQ+ pupils can face insults, intimidation and violence in everyday life.
  • Clear rules matter: Schools need practical support to challenge harassment, not just symbolic campaigns.

A troubling shift in attitudes

The most striking finding isn't subtle. According to the Trimbos Institute, acceptance of homosexuality among Dutch young people has declined dramatically, particularly among secondary-school boys. A fall from 40% to 22% in four years represents a serious change in the social climate.

Girls' attitudes have also shifted, with positive views falling from 78% to 51%. That doesn't mean every young person has become hostile, of course, but it does suggest that the broadly tolerant image associated with the Netherlands can no longer be taken for granted.

The figures come from research linked to the Youth Monitor 2025, which examines young people's wellbeing and social attitudes. Trimbos' wider work on youth also places these findings alongside concerns about pressure, mental health and the unsettled environment in which teenagers are growing up.

Why acceptance is becoming harder to sustain

There probably isn't one explanation. Young people absorb messages from family, faith communities, friendship groups, social media and the wider political conversation. The online manosphere may play a part too, particularly where hostility towards women and LGBTQ+ people is presented as rebellion or entertainment.

Religious conservatism is another factor discussed in the debate, but it needs handling with care. The problem isn't someone's faith or ethnic background. The line is crossed when a belief is used to excuse harassment, exclusion or violence against gay people.

Research on youth wellbeing from Trimbos suggests that today's teenagers are navigating a complicated mix of emotional strain and social pressure. In that setting, hostile online content can spread quickly, while young people may have fewer secure spaces in which to question what they're being told.

Rainbow symbols help, but they're not enough

Rainbow flags, themed school days and colourful crossings can show solidarity. They can also make a quiet difference to a pupil who feels alone. But a symbol on its own won't stop someone being threatened in a corridor or attacked on the way home.

What matters most is the response when something happens. Schools need clear behaviour policies, staff who feel able to intervene and a system that records incidents rather than quietly absorbing them into the daily grind. A poster campaign is easy to organise; consistent enforcement is the harder, more important work.

The wider Youth Monitor material underlines why this matters. Young people's wellbeing is shaped by whether they feel safe, respected and able to belong. For an LGBTQ+ teenager, that can determine whether school feels like a community or a place to keep one's head down.

What schools and parents can do now

Schools should explain early that private beliefs are protected, but discriminatory conduct isn't. That distinction is simple and powerful: people can hold different religious or personal views, yet everyone remains bound by the same rules against bullying, threats and violence.

Teachers also need backing when they challenge slurs or intimidation. If staff fear complaints, online backlash or being left alone to handle a serious incident, rules quickly become decorative. Young people notice that gap almost immediately.

Parents have a role as well. Conversations about online videos, influencers and group-chat humour can be awkward, but avoiding them leaves the loudest voices in charge. Asking what a child has seen, how it made them feel and whether anyone was targeted can open the door without turning the discussion into a lecture.

A test of the Netherlands' tolerance

The latest figures should be treated as a warning rather than a reason for despair. Attitudes can change in both directions, and schools remain one of the few places where young people from different backgrounds meet regularly and learn how shared rules work.

The challenge is to defend LGBTQ+ safety without reducing the issue to slogans or blaming whole communities. Firm boundaries, better education and credible consequences are more useful than another round of symbolic gestures.

A tolerant society isn't measured by how many rainbow flags it displays, but by whether people can walk down the street holding hands without fear.

It's time to make that ordinary freedom ordinary again.

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