Schorer was founded on 7 September 1967 as the  - ‘Jhr. mr. J.A. Schorerstichting tot exploitatie van consultatiebureaus voor homofilie’ - [J.A. Schorer, Esq. Foundation for the operation of mental-health centres that focus on homosexuality]. The new organisation was the result of a collaboration between COC and institutions for public mental health and social work. While the Minister of Culture, Recreation and Social Services, Marga Klompé, was willing to support the Jhr. mr. J.A. Schorerstichting, she also made it clear at that time that the subsidy did not imply any government acknowledgement of 'the phenomenon of homophilia'.

SecretIn the 1960s, homosexuality was not accepted in the Netherlands. COC offered a safe place for people to meet – often in secret. Due to the fear of discrimination, the organisation could not yet fulfil its current role as an advocacy group. Members were afraid to be identified as such in public and often went by a pseudonym within the organisation. In those days, gays and lesbians had various different problems to deal with. There was an enormous need for an organisation that could provide mental health services.

Upstairs apartmentSchorer is named after a Dutch aristocrat, Jacob Anton Schorer, Esq., the lawyer who challenged the penalisation of homosexuality in the early twentieth century. On 14 November 1968, the world’s first mental-health centre for ‘homophiles’ opened on Wolvenstraat in Amsterdam. The Schorer Foundation started out in an upstairs apartment with a staff of six. At the close of 2008 there were 51 paid employees.

AIDSThe AIDS epidemic broke out in the Netherlands in the 1980s. Many gay men became sick with the virus and died. Schorer first introduced the North American concept of buddy care in the Netherlands in 1984 and founded – together with other organisations – the Stichting Aanvullende Dienstverlening (SAD) to promote the prevention of HIV and STI.

In short: SchorerSchorer celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007. At that time, the organisation underwent a change with regard to both its name and its activities. In 1993, the Schorer Foundation had merged with SAD and the gay-specific prevention projects of both Bureau GVO [the Municipal Health Education Office of Amsterdam] and COC to form the SAD-Schorer Foundation. Since then, the foundation’s activities gradually shifted from care and services to research and support. The organisation now simply goes by the name ‘Schorer’. The target group and the subject matter have remained the same over the years: Schorer still works on improving the health and well-being of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgenders.