The Dutch Ministry of Defence has given its permission for soldiers in uniform to take part in the annual Gay Pride canal parade in Amsterdam on Saturday. The ministry stresses that the soldiers will be participating on their own initiative, and that the ministry itself is not involved. They have been instructed to make sure they are wearing "the correct uniform".

The ministry's permission marks a change from previous years, when soldiers were forbidden from taking part in the parade in military attire on the grounds that it would devalue the uniform.

There will be eight military members on board the "FNV (trade union confederation)/Company Pride Platform boat", alongside representatives of major multinational companies such as Cisco, IBM, Philips and Shell. The theme of the boat will be "out of the closet works better". Additional military personnel will be on board the Police Boat.

The participating organisations want to demonstrate their support for homosexual staff, says the FNV. It points out that many gay men and lesbians still cannot be open about their sexuality in the workplace.

Photo of Police Boat at Gay Pride 2008: Ramon Stoppelenburg on Flickr