Nominees Jos Brink Prize 2023

The nominees for the Jos Brink Oeuvre Prize and the Jos Brink Innovation Prize have been announced. An independent jury headed by Jeangu Macrooy has selected Wielie Elhorst, Judith Schuyf and Stichting Roze 50+ for the Oeuvre Prize. What You See Festival, Gio van den Heuvel and Jess, and Paul van Dorst are the nominees to win the Innovation Award. The government awards will be presented by Minister Dijkgraaf of Education, Culture and Science at the Amsterdam DeLaMar theatre on Sunday 4 June 2023.

The Jos Brink Prize is an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. The Jos Brink Oeuvre Prize is awarded every two years to a person, group or institution that has made a fundamental contribution to improving the position of lesbian women, gay men, bisexual men and women, transgender persons and intersex persons in society. The award consists of a cash prize of €10,000 and a work of art.

The Jos Bink Innovation Award is a biennial incentive prize for an individual or organisation, which has made an inspiring effort to improve the acceptance and safety of lhbtiq+persons in society. The prize serves to encourage them to continue their exemplary role. The prize consists of a cash prize of €1,000.

Minister Dijkgraaf: "At a time when, as a country, we are still dealing with incidents that strain the acceptance and safety of the lhbtiq+ community, there cannot be enough attention to this important award. People or organisations who want to ensure that everyone can be themselves contribute to our society in a fundamental way. I look forward to presenting the awards on 4 June."

Oeuvre Prize nominees

For the Oeuvre Prize, the jury nominated Pink 50+ Foundation, Judith Schuyf and Wielie Elhorst. The Pink 50+ Foundation has been working since 2009 to improve the interests, living situation and well-being of lhbtiq+ elderly people, together with some 100 volunteer Pink 50+ ambassadors. Many pink elderly do not always dare to express their love and identity because of their background.

In addition, Judith Schuyf (1951) has been nominated. She is one of the longest active researchers who has focused her working life on the emancipation of gay, lesbian and transgender people. She worked at Utrecht University for over 20 years and was one of the founders of the Gay Studies working group there. In her lhbtiq+ focused work, her areas of interest included emancipation, policy, sports, history, media, the elderly and supporting municipalities.

The latest nominee is Wielie Elhorst. Elhorst was a board member and chairman of the Landelijk Koördinatie Punt groepen kerk en homoseksualiteit (LKP) for many years. In this, he undertook numerous initiatives to improve the position of Christian lhbtiq+ persons in the Netherlands, such as the first church declaration against violence against homosexuals, the Holy Boat at the Canal Parade and Pride church services.

Innovation Award nominees 

Nominated for the Innovation Award are What You See Festival, Gio van den Heuvel and Jess and Paul van Dorst. What You See Festival is a multidisciplinary and international arts festival about gender and identity. It is known for work by artists that has hardly ever been seen in the Netherlands before, unexpected pop-up performances and research presentations. Other nominees Gio and Jess founded the Transcafé in Utrecht for Trans persons with mild intellectual disabilities. A target group often overlooked, but made visible by this duo. The last nominee is Paul van Dorst. Van Dorst is chairman of the Roze Kameraden: the lhbtiq+ supporters' club of Feyenoord. The Roze Kameraden strive for a Feyenoord where everyone can be themselves, by being visible in and outside the stadium, having discussions with the club, KNVB, municipality and supporters.Jury

The jury for the Jos Brink Prize 2023 consists of chairman Jeangu Macrooy (singer-songwriter), Rocky Hehakaija (former football star and director of the Favela Street foundation), Eveline van de Putte (author and theatre maker), Jantine van Lisdonk (emancipation researcher and strategic advisor Bi+ Netherlands) and Jackson Monteiro (Roze in Blauw network and drag queen Ruby Rouge).

The award is named after Jos Brink (1942-2007), a champion of the acceptance and emancipation of lhbtiq+ persons, who openly came out about his homosexuality. In 2021, the Oeuvre Prize was awarded to Glenn Helberg, while the Innovation Prize went to Naomie Pieter.