[7] The opening paragraph begins, "Evangelical Christians at the dawn of the twenty-first century find themselves living in a period of historic transition.In November 2022, David French, one of the original signers of the declaration, announced that he had "changed his mind" on the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, although stating he was still morally opposed to the matter.Its structure and content were very similar to the original statement, but a 'pastoral chapter' had been added, stressing that LGBT individuals were entitled to pastoral care, and recognizing that in the past religious communities had failed to show sufficient compassion towards them.[27] The Dutch statement received some support in orthodox Protestant circles (although even there too, objections were raised), but was widely criticized by most religious leaders, politicians and human rights organizations.[30] In the days following the publication, numerous town halls, churches and universities throughout the Netherlands flew the rainbow flag in a show of solidarity with the LGBT community.
The Dutch municipality of
Wormerland
flies the
rainbow flag
on January 9, 2019, in solidarity with the
LGBT
community after the publication of the Dutch version of the Nashville Statement.