Queer Places:
Domtoren, Domplein 21, 3512 JE Utrecht, Netherlands
Zacharias Wilsma (born 1707) was a member of the Utrecht gay scene around the year 1730.
On January 12, 1730, Josua Wils filed a report for practicing homosexual acts in public, in the Dom tower. He had caught two men red-handed. This was the beginning of what is known as the Utrecht homosexual mafia. Since Wils knew one of the men, the Utrecht court was able to detain them within 24 hours. One thing led to another and more arrests followed. In February 1730, the court in Utrecht had the former soldier and gentleman's servant Zacharias Wilsma arrested. Wilsma was put under heavy pressure and snapped. To save his life, he went to talk. He was a fine key witness, because apparently very well introduced to the gay scene at the time. He had previously worked in Oegstgeest as a fronthand on the outside of Mr. Willem Jacobsz Paedts, where he used his carriage to commit sodomy with other Leideners.[1] Mainly on the basis of his confessions, the court drew up a list containing more than one hundred and forty names of men from all over the country who committed themselves to sodomy. The affair caused a lot of a stir and spread to The Hague and Groningen, among others, where the persecution in the village of Zuidhorn was the most notorious. A total of 289 men were prosecuted, 70 of whom were put to death.[2] In Utrecht this affair cost the life to 18, in The Hague to 14[3] and in Zuidhorn to 24 humans. The remaining 14 victims have been killed elsewhere in the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
Since 1999 there is a gay monument on the Domplein to commemorate this event.
My published books:
