# Wouter Van Bellingen

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**Wouter Van Bellingen** (born 20 April 1972) is a Rwandan-born Belgian [politician](/source/Politician) for the [Sociaal-Liberale Partij](/source/Sociaal-Liberale_Partij). He was previously employed by the city of [Sint-Niklaas](/source/Sint-Niklaas) as a [civil servant](/source/Civil_servant) working on youth and [developing world](/source/Developing_country) issues.

Since 2 January 2007, Van Bellingen is an [alderman](/source/Schepen) in Sint-Niklaas, where he lives. As such, he became the first black alderman in Flanders.[1] He is responsible for the city's activities related to youths, parties, international projects, civilian affairs and the civil registry and some administrative functions.[2]

Van Bellingen drew media attention in February 2007 when it was reported that 3 couples cancelled their wedding ceremony because they didn't want to be wed by a black registrar.[3][4] In response to the event, Van Bellingen decided to organise a multicultural wedding event on 21 March 2007, which is also the [International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination](/source/International_Day_for_the_Elimination_of_Racial_Discrimination).[5] 626 couples were symbolically married by Van Bellingen that day[6] and this event was perceived as a strong anti-racism signal.[7]

Van Bellingen was placed for adoption by his [Rwandan](/source/Rwanda) mother. He grew up in Sint-Niklaas as the youngest son in a family with 4 adopted children.[8] He is married and has 2 children. He was very active in the different sections of the youth councils in Flanders, and a [scouting](/source/Scouting) leader.

## References

- Spirit: [Wouter Van Bellingen](https://web.archive.org/web/20070604022443/http://sites.spirit.be/spirit1/faces/web/pers.jsp?name=In%20de%20pers&group=woutervanbellingen&curgroup=woutervanbellingen). Retrieved 19 March 2007. (in Dutch)

## Footnotes

1. (subscription required) "[Zwarte Vlaming wordt eerste gekleurde schepen](http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=GGD16AUP9)". *[De Standaard](/source/De_Standaard)*, 29 December 2006 (subscription required) (in Dutch)

1. Stad Sint-Niklaas: "[Samenstelling en bevoegdheden college](http://www.sint-niklaas.be/modules/phpwiki/index.php?pagename=Samenstelling%20en%20bevoegdheden%20college) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20071218141143/http://www.sint-niklaas.be/modules/phpwiki/index.php?pagename=Samenstelling%20en%20bevoegdheden%20college) 18 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine". Retrieved 19 March 2007. (in Dutch)

1. Ian Traynor "[Flanders race row fails to muffle wedding bells](https://www.theguardian.com/farright/story/0,,2016936,00.html)". *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*, 20 February 2007.

1. Alex Duval Smith "[Flemish couples don't want to be wed by Wouter](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/25/alexduvalsmith.theobserver)". *[The Observer](/source/The_Observer)*, 25 February 2007.

1. "[Couples sign up for mass marriage](http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=37638) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091616/http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=48&story_id=37638) 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine". *[Expatica](/source/Expatica)*, 14 March 2007.

1. ["Mass wedding against racism"](http://www.flandersnews.be/cm/flandersnews.be/News/070322_%2BMass%2Bwedding%2Bagainst%2Bracism%2Bupdate). flandersnews.be. 2007-03-22. Retrieved 2007-03-23.[dead link]

1. ["Belgians in anti-racism weddings"](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6476115.stm). BBC. 2007-03-21. Retrieved 2007-03-22.

1. ["BLIKVANGER. Wouter Van Bellingen"](http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=G7P17R5CR). *De Standaard*, 3 February 2007. (subscription required) (in Dutch)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wouter Van Bellingen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wouter_Van_Bellingen) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wouter_Van_Bellingen?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.