The Netherlands Working Group (WG) was founded in spring 1995 and has now some eight members (autumn 2002). The Dutch partner is the Euregio group of the C.O.C. of the local chapter in Twente/Achterhoek; it also counts about five members. The common goal is to investigate ways and means toward gay/lesbian emancipation and to encourage the exchange of experiences and know-how. The basic attitude is to accept the others as they are and not as one wishes them to be. Within the context of the complex Dutch-German relationships, this demand leads to expectations beyond a mere neighbourhood coexistence. Past joint actions demonstrate that the Dutch „gezelligheid” goes along well with the German „Gründlichkeit”.

Since 1995 the Netherlands WG has been involved in a series of events that have been very well received publicly. The WG also encourages private contacts and organizes events around Dutch themes within the framework of the KCM. Examples are a Dutch language course for gays and lesbians and bi-national discussions on gay integration projects. It is also planned to build up a representative collection of books on the Netherlands and in Dutch as part of the KCM library. Dutch and German have equal status as working languages in the WG. Meetings are held every two months, alternating between Münster and Enschede or Hengelo.

Since 1995 the Netherland WG participated on the following events:

• A public discussion about the positions of homos within the dutch-german army in Münster (August 1995).
• Participation on the yearly homo-meeting „standFest” in Münster (from 1995 to today).
• Participation on the festivities for 50 years COC in Enschede (November 1996).
• A public discussion about differences in the local homo-policies of Dutch and German communities (February 1997).
• German premiére of the oratory „Een eigen hooglied” in Münster (June 1997).
• Several concerts with the prizewinning dutch choir "Vir Quaadrat" in Münster (June 1998 and October 1999).
• Joint celebrations of (german) Nikolaus’ Day, alternately in Enschede or Münster (since 1999)
• Setting up of an own collection of Dutch literature within the KCM-library (June 2000).
• Participation on several cultural activities in Netherlands (March 2000 and February 2001).
• German-dutch day tour to the memorial Bergen-Belsen (November 2001)
• Scientific cooperation within a anthology to German-Dutch tolerance history under editorship of Professor Dr. Horst Lademacher; former Netherlands study center. (August 2002)

Further examples of the border crossing activities are the course in Dutch language for Germans and the close cooperation between the libraries of KCM and COC. Within the WG both German and Dutch will be spoken and a special folder for the WG is printed in these languages. Every two months a regular meeting takes place either in Münster or Enschede and Hengelo.