The editorial team of a weekly publication that is widely circulated on the orthodox Christian delta island of Goeree Overflakkee, Zeeland recently apologized for featuring an interview with a gay couple. The article, published in Eilanden Nieuws, shared the views of 18-year-old Menno Smit and 20-year-old Arjan Kamp as part of an interview series about young people living in the predominantly Protestant area. However, religious readers of the publication were infuriated on learning that Smit and Kamp are a gay couple.

Now, director Ab Van Der Veer and editor Adri Van Der Laan have released official statements apologizing for the article that they say gave too big a platform to a way of life which is not in tandem with most of the readers’ mentality. The duo also said that the subject of homosexuality and the fight for LGBT rights are not in keeping with the founding values of Eilanden Nieuws. The newspaper, which is circulated free of cost, describes itself as a Christian news medium that was founded with Protestant teachings in mind.

Obviously, the apology from Eilanden Nieuws went on to infuriate nonreligious and progressive readers, who have said that they no longer want the publication in their letterboxes. While protesters demanded the immediate resignation of Laan, Mayor of Goeree Overflakkee, Jan Pieter Lokker said his council too opposes all forms of discrimination, especially those carried out in the name of religion and over an individual’s sexual preferences.

In 2014, Zeeland’s government asked its socio-cultural think tank to carry out a survey that concluded approximately 58 percent of orthodox Protestants in the Netherlands consider homosexuality to be sinful, which also makes the sect the most anti-LGBT religious group in the country.

Photo Credits: Dutch News