The latest round of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, carried out jointly by Utrecht University and the Trimbos Institute, paints a stark picture of shifting attitudes in the Netherlands. In the 2025 wave, just 22 % of boys aged 12-16 expressed a positive view of homosexuality, down from 40 % in 2021. Among girls, the figure fell from 78 % to 51 %. These numbers mark the most rapid reversal in acceptance recorded in the survey’s European series.
Survey findings and demographic nuances
The HBSC questionnaire asks respondents whether they think being gay or lesbian is “normal” or “acceptable”. The 2025 data show a near-halving of acceptance among boys and a drop of roughly one-third among girls. The gap between genders persisted – girls remain more supportive – but both groups moved in the same negative direction.
Additional items reveal related anxieties: confidence that a gay or lesbian classmate could speak openly about their orientation fell from 60 % to 45 %. The decline was observed across socioeconomic brackets, migration backgrounds, and school tracks (VWO, VMBO, etc.), suggesting a broad-based shift rather than an isolated subgroup effect.
Social media and the rise of the “manosphere”
Researchers link the downturn partly to the growing prominence of the manosphere – an online ecosystem of podcasts, forums and short-form videos that promote hyper-masculine ideals and frequently cast LGBT people as outsiders. Professor Gonneke Stevens, who led the Dutch research team, notes that exposure to such content has risen dramatically on platforms like TikTok, where 45 % of girls and 33 % of boys report near-continuous use.
“The fact is that in recent years young people have been exposed to these views and that in the same period they have taken a more negative view of homosexuality,” Stevens said. Influencers known for anti-feminist rhetoric, often labeled as “modern Andrew Tates,” have amassed large followings, giving the manosphere an unprecedented reach among adolescents.
Political reaction and legal battles
Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who plans to marry his partner Nicolás Keenan next year, called the results “shocking” and warned that social-media firms might be pressured to curb harmful content. “The influence of social media is huge and the cabinet will look at how we can put pressure on the platforms if a lot of content is appearing online that has a bad influence on young people,” he told RTL Nieuws.
The LGBT advocacy group COC described the trend as a “frightening development”. Director Marie Ricardo urged platforms to take responsibility, stating, “We badly need the young generation for a free country in which everyone can be themselves.”
Conservative Catholic organization Civitas Christiana escalated the cultural fight by targeting children’s author Pim Lammers for a novel featuring a same-sex couple. After receiving death threats, Lammers went into hiding. Rutgers, the institute that runs the annual “Week van de Lentekriebels” sex-education program, secured a court injunction preventing Civitas Christiana from publishing a defamatory “black book” that alleged various groups were “sexualising” children. The decision was upheld on appeal in May.
Wider context: mental health and school climate
Beyond attitudes toward LGBT people, the HBSC survey highlighted deteriorating well-being among Dutch adolescents. Female respondents reported higher levels of emotional problems (up from 28 % in 2017 to over 43 % in 2022). Combined pressures from academic performance, pervasive social-media use, and broader societal anxieties – such as climate change and housing insecurity – are cited as contributing factors.
School environments are feeling the strain as well. Incidents of bullying linked to perceived sexual orientation have risen, and initiatives like raising rainbow flags or celebrating Purple Friday face growing parental resistance. These developments suggest that the decline in LGBT acceptance is part of a larger erosion of perceived safety and inclusion in Dutch schools.
While the exact causal chain remains under investigation, scholars agree that the confluence of aggressive online narratives, politicised public debate, and a backlash against comprehensive sex education has created a fertile ground for intolerance to spread.
