IHLIA rooms

IHLIA LGBTI Heritage is the place where the LGBTQ history of The Netherlands is archived and preserved.

House of Hiv – House of IHLIA

There were two rooms on display at IHLIA: in one room you could learn more about Janherman Veenker, who died in 2005, whose archive has been bequeathed to IHLIA; the second room was a treasure trove of special pieces that IHLIA has in its possession. 

Janherman Veenker has meant a lot to the LGBTQ+ community and later also to the HIV community. When Aids emerged, he was one of the first in our country to realize the impact it could have on the position of gays, sex workers and drug users. He was already active in Groningen in 1967 at the age of 17 and moved to Amsterdam for work where he became active for the COC Amsterdam. He was a secretary at the COC’s first European Aids Conference in 1984 and later secretary of the government’s advisory body, the National Aids Combating Commission (NCAB). He was also involved in the establishment of the Aidsfonds and a board member at the drug organization Mainline.

This room also considered the role of the LGBTQ+ community in tackling HIV and Aids, something Veenker encouraged. How the community shaped the information for its own group and the joint mourning for the loss of loved ones.

The second room was a treasure trove of special pieces that have been bequeathed over the years and housed at IHLIA. Including archival pieces of Yehuda Sofer and Dolly (Terence) Cook, who were volunteers at IHLIA and died of Aids.

There were also two quilts on display, including those for Schorer Buddycare clients and buddies.