Cool Dutch Lesbians: Claudia de Breij

“This is not a song
There is nothing to sing about
Everything is fine
We shouldn’t complain so much
This is not a song
About all kinds of horrible things
Because in this country there is nothing left for us to fight for
This is not a song
Because we can get married and show our commitment to the world
This is not a song
About how we marched and fought

Everything is fine
But better not hold each other’s hand when you pass a group of boisterous youth
Kiss each other freely when you go outside of town but never too enthusiastic on the streets
And just laugh when they ask who of you the woman is
And just laugh when they ask if you aren’t missing something

Everything is fine
If you don’t mind there are no movies about you
If you don’t mind there are no books about you
If you don’t mind there are no songs about you
This is not a song…”


These are some of the lyrics (roughly and freely translated by this contributing writer) of Claudia de Breij’s song “Geen Liedje” (Not a song) about the current state of acceptance of gays and lesbians in the Netherlands or “homo emancipation” as our government likes to call it. I might be living in one of the most liberal countries in the world, but that does not necessarily mean that everything is perfect.

Claudia de Breij is a Dutch out lesbian TV presenter, radio DJ and stand up comedian. She is mostly known for presenting the late night talk show “Thank God it’s Friday” with the VARA on Nederland 3 that aired until recently. Before that she presented several other (mainly late night) TV shows including “VARA Laat” (VARA late), VARA live, “Het Elfde Uur” (The Eleventh Hour) and “De Wereld Draait Door”(The world keeps on turning).

Read my entire article here.