Interviewer: What does Gender Equality mean to you personally?
M. Hekkelman: To me it's part of a larger framework, where everyone is entitled to be themselves wherever they are.
Interviewer: How do you think Gender Equality affects people's lives?
M. Hekkelman: I always think that there's a long way to go in gender equality, and I think that there's a long way to keep people informed, and if people are not informed they make judgments which are not based off of facts. And I think that with gender equality there's a lot of misinformation that makes people rethink their decisions.
Interviewer: What is one action you would take to help Gender Equality?
M. Hekkelman: What I would do in my daily life would be much different than what I'd do at school. And I'm really proud that our school participated in the GSA, and we participated in the pride in Leiden. So, openly supporting gender equality.
Interviewer: How do you try to encourage equal opportunities for boys and girls?
M. Hekkelman: All of out school activities are open to boys, girls and in between.
Interviewer: What challanges do you see in achieving Gender Equality in school?
M. Hekkelman: Other peoplehaving very strong opinions against gender equality, for whatever reasons, and it's mostly ignorance. I think it's difficult but it's a very patience job. When I was at school, homosexuality was a thing we didn't talk about and I see that now everyone is fairly open about it. And now gender fluidity sometimes has a difficult place in school discussions, but it's a movement that can't be stopped anymore, so it's very positive.