Discovering yourself starts safely online

For a growing group of young people, the search for who you are begins online. Especially for LGBTQIA+ youth, the internet is often the first place where they can anonymously explore, experiment, and dare to be themselves. With 'Discovering yourself starts safely online,' KPN shows during World Pride how essential that digital space is – and why it is not automatically safe for the community.

The internet is an essential part of young people's lives and plays an increasingly important role in their personal development. For LGBTQIA+ youth, this role is often crucial. This digital environment thus forms a safe first step in a process of self-discovery. Initiatives and communities where young people can turn anonymously for support and information, such as Jong&Out and Switchboard by COC Netherlands, demonstrate how important safe digital spaces are.

For many young people, that search begins small and personal: with a question in a search bar. That is precisely why the search bar is the central campaign element, symbolizing the online search for oneself: the first place where many people ask questions in complete freedom, find recognition, and discover who they are step by step. It is precisely those first moments that determine whether someone dares to develop further. In this process, the internet can act as an accelerator for self-acceptance and self-confidence.

At the same time, that same online environment is not safe for everyone. The 2024 LGBTQA+ Monitor shows that all surveyed LGBTQA+ groups experience online hate comments more frequently than cis-hetero respondents. Figures from the Safety Monitor also show that LGBTQIA+ individuals are victims of online crime more often than non-LGBTQIA+ individuals, including online threats, intimidation, and bullying. This makes it clear that digital safety and inclusion are inextricably linked.

With this campaign, KPN brings this tension together. By sharing personal stories, KPN shows how the internet can help people find themselves, but also that this development is only possible when the digital environment is designed to be safe, accessible, and inclusive. With advice from experts such as Rutgers, the expertise center for sexuality in the Netherlands , the lived experiences of young people are carefully considered.

KPN Official Technology Partner WorldPride Amsterdam 2026

For many people, Pride is a moment of visibility and connection, but not everyone has the freedom or opportunity to be physically present. That is why KPN explicitly aligns with the theme UNITY during WorldPride, in which connection also revolves around access.

As Official Technology Partner of Pride Amsterdam, KPN is once again deploying the award-winning Pride stream boat. This boat, equipped with the safe and reliable technology KPN is known for, makes it possible to stream the Canal Parade live to the whole world.

This way, everyone – wherever in the world – can sail along online with the KPN boat and be part of the moment. For people in countries where celebrating Pride openly is not a given or is even risky, the livestream offers a way to stay connected with the global community. Connectedness, therefore, is not just about being together, but also, and perhaps even more importantly, about being able to participate.

Throughout the campaign, the search bar reappears in various ways, and during the Canal Parade, this central campaign element is literally brought to life. A life-sized search bar displays real search queries that have helped people worldwide on their personal journeys of discovery. In this way, KPN shows how online connection can contribute to the freedom to be yourself – during the Canal Parade in Amsterdam and far beyond. By actively involving viewers and allowing them to share their own search queries, a collective story emerges in which personal experiences converge. UNITY thus gains meaning on two levels: on the water and online.

A #BetterInternet for the LGBTQIA+ community

The new Pride campaign is part of KPN's broader commitment to a better internet. With #BeterInternet, KPN is working on a digital environment that is safer, more social, and more inclusive, especially for people for whom online visibility is particularly important.

Previous initiatives such as Pride Verified, which focused on online hate against the community, and Loud & Proud, in which stories contribute to visibility and acceptance, show that this commitment is structural. With the new Pride campaign, KPN builds on this and brings it back to the core: an internet where everyone has the space to discover themselves.

KPN Pride: inclusion as the foundation of employership

That conviction starts within the organization itself. KPN actively works on diversity and inclusion and on a work environment where employees feel safe and free to be themselves. The internal network KPN Pride plays an important role in this and advocates for the interests of LGBTQIA+ employees.

This translates into concrete measures. For instance, the collective labor agreement stipulates that maternity leave also applies to rainbow families and that employees undergoing gender transition receive additional leave. Partly due to this, KPN received the Winq Workplace Award in the past, an acknowledgment for organizations actively committed to a safe and inclusive work environment.

Outside the organization, KPN also actively contributes to the LGBTQIA+ community, including through initiatives such as the Pink Christmas Dinner for the elderly and long-term support for scientific research into acceptance in the workplace.

“KPN is committed to diversity, freedom, and equality, both in the workplace and beyond, offline and online. We believe in the power that diverse teams and an inclusive and equitable organizational culture bring. Regardless of who you are, everyone benefits from it. That is why we continue to work on diversity and inclusion. That is good for our colleagues, for KPN, and for the customer,” says Chief People Officer and KPN Executive Board member Hilde Garssen.