Page "Pim Fortuyn" Paragraph 1

Fortuyn provoked controversy with his stated views about multiculturalism, immigration and Islam in the Netherlands.

He called Islam " a backward culture ", and said that if it were legally possible he would close the borders for Muslim immigrants.

He was labelled a far-right populist by his opponents and in the media, but he fiercely rejected this label and explicitly distanced himself from " far-right " politicians such as the Belgian Filip Dewinter, the Austrian Jörg Haider, or Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Pen whenever compared to them.

While Fortuyn compared his own politics to centre-right politicians such as Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, he also admired former Dutch Prime Minister Joop den Uyl, a social democrat, and Democratic U. S. president John F. Kennedy.

Fortuyn however repeatedly described himself and LPF's ideology as pragmatism and not populism.

Fortuyn was openly homosexual.