A Gay Man Can't Even Safely Walk in Amsterdam These Days.

According to the London Times, the Amsterdam Tourist Board, for the first time, has issued a warning to gay visitors to be careful in the city.

This comes after Chris Crain, editor of the Washington Blad was kicked to the ground by a Moroccan youth gang last week.

Six monts ago, in Amsterdam, Theo van Gogh, the Dutch film maker, was brutally kikked by an Islamic extremist.

Social tenison have erupted in the heart of Ruguliersdwarsstraat, or Straat, the main gay street in Amsterdam.

Various reports have surfaced of Moroccan gang youths shouting "flicker", Dutch for faggot, to various men working in the gay district.

A lot of Moroccan and Turks aren't tolerant of homosexuality. So they congregate and cause trouble, attacking gay men on the street.

COC Nederland, the Dutch gay rights organization, reports increased acts of violence against gay men in recent months.

"The Feeling of insecurity in Amsterdam is rising," says Rene Soeren of the COC. "Gay men are less willing to walk hand-in-hand because they might be beaten up"

Some gay couples have been forced to life elsewhere beyond the Straat, because they have been hounded by gay bashing neighbors.

So when we felt that Amsterdam was the gay mecca, it no longer is. The World keeps changing around us. Live for gay men has always been risky, but now, in this age and time, we really have to be more careful being openly affectionate to each other in public. A sorry state of affairs, indeed.