After the departure of Eppo Bruins and other ministers from the NSC, the two remaining governing parties, VVD and BBB, had to search for successors. For the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, that will be 33-year-old Gouke Moes.

"Honorable"

Moes has been a member of the Provincial Council of Groningen since March. He previously worked as a blacksmith and machinist. He switched to education and taught English, technology, physics, and chemistry. He also taught PIE (production, installation, and energy).

In 2021, he became politically active for BBB and in 2023, he joined the Provincial Council of Groningen, where he became party leader. A few months ago, he became a member of the provincial council. Now, he is moving to The Hague to become the outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Science.

Moes calls it a tremendous honor "that I can take on this role for our education, culture, and science," he said in a statement from BBB. "My heart lies in education, I've been a teacher myself for years, and I'm really looking forward to getting started."

Rainbow Path

A year ago, Moes tweeted about a rainbow path defaced with swastikas: "That's how polarization works. It's a shame, a shame on both sides."

When someone on X asked which two sides he meant, he replied: "The side that decided to build such a rainbow path there, completely ignoring the experiences of many young people there (perhaps even provoking them), and the side that then counters that with swastikas."

This rubbed many the wrong way. "His message came across to us as equating the symbol of equality, the rainbow, with a symbol of hate, the swastika," wrote the provincial factions of GroenLinks, CDA, Socialist Party, Party for the Animals, Volt, PvdA, Party for the North, and D66 in a joint statement. "We are shocked by this message and distance ourselves from it."

Understanding

Moes himself denied equating the rainbow and the swastika. “What I do say is: if you want to move beyond polarization, you have to try to understand the other. I was simply wondering if this is the best way to counter polarization, or the best way to further the LGBTQ+ movement. And I think it's a shame that people are so far apart that this is happening.”

Member of Parliament Lisa Westerveld (GroenLinks-PvdA) has already announced parliamentary questions now that Moes will become minister. He will soon also have emancipation in his portfolio, including tackling LGBTQ+ discrimination. Incidentally, OCW State Secretary Mariëlle Paul has emancipation in her portfolio.