Belgian Lesbian Celebrity Yasmine Commits Suicide

She was one of the first BVs (Bekende Vlaming, or Famous Flemish) to come out in this little pocked-sized country of mine, setting the stage for others. 

Well-liked, approachable, intelligent, passionate, with a warm personality are just a few words that come to mind when thinking of her. Not only was she a Jane of all trades, she was also involved in several charity organizations. 

Over the years, I had the chance to meet her in person several times, once striking up a conversation after a concert in my home town. She was the least stuck up Belgian celebrity I had ever met, bar none. I bumped into her at a party several years later, and she remembered where we'd met the first time, which totally blew me away at the time.

The Belgian GLBT scene has lost one of its icons. She will be sorely missed. 

She was our Ellen DeGeneres. She helped so many young girls accept their sexual orientation. She wrote lots of songs about being gay and was very open about the fact that she was gay. She's a hero to many young girls in our nation. She'll be deeply missed...

This really is tragic news. I guess I'm not the only one who cried when I heard the news. She was one of the leading ladies of Flemish television, liked by lots of people. Forever in our minds and our heart...

Love does kill sometimes, appearently. I'm shocked and sad she didn't find another way to deal with her break up.. 

the mind works in mysterious ways...

she was and still is a pearl--gorgeous, ballsy and with a wicked sense of humour. Yasmine, you'll be in our hearts and minds forever.

I was driving in my car when I heard the news, not the best place to be at that moment...

Yasmine was a force to be reckoned with, a brillant singer, and an allround beautiful person, she will be sorely missed in Flanders :(

the lyrics to her song Ik was zo graag bij jou gebleven (= I wished I could've stayed with you) sound so prophetic now, they give me the shivers

what a loss :'(

I litteraly had to sit down when I heard the news. This is a sad day, not only for the Belgian LGBT community but for Belgium in general. I agree on the fact that in a way she was our Ellen DeGeneres.

She was a very talented musician and presenter but most of all she was an amazing person. She had a style all her own and she was just the kind of person that when she appeared on screen you sat down and listened. I still can't believe she's gone, I'm tearing up watching all the tributes and I usually don't cry very easily. She will be sorely missed. Rest In Peace Yasmine because you deserve it

D: i don't know her but this made me feel really really sad...

I don't know who Yasmine is but this still makes me sad.  Today has been a sad, sad day.

What a day.....

She was very beloved here, she was the smiling face on tv, everyone and I mean everyone just loved and adored her,

She presented 'de rode lope' a program with the lastest news on showbizzland, she brought it with such joy, and she never hit her sexuality, she was always herself and everyone was totally fine with that.but after rewatching the episodes from last weeks you could see she wasn't herself

It's such a great loss for Belgium..

I hope she's in a happier place now. Yasmine rust in vrede

It's been confirmed it was indeed suicide. According to Het Laatste Nieuws (newspaper) she hanged herself on a tree nearby her sister's house.

I'm still too shocked to say more. My condolences to her friends and relatives!

Ik voelde me eigenlijk een beetje stom deze morgen, want het eerste waar ik aan dacht toen ik m'n ogen opende was dat Yasmine/Hilde er niet meer is (sentimental fool, me).
Ik weet zelfs niet waar ik moet beginnen met te vertellen wat ik voel. Naast ongeloof, verdriet. Verdriet over en voor haar, zo een prachtige, lieve, getalenteerde, sterke vrouw die uit het leven stapt... Verdriet voor haar familie, voor haar kleine meid, haar vrienden, collega's, fans.
En ook wel een beetje boosheid, hoe kon je dit nu doen... Oké, het was een moeilijke periode en misschien had je het gevoel dat je er al teveel van deze had mee gemaakt, maar het leven an sich is zo mooi, er stonden je nog zo véél mooie momenten te wachten.
Dankbaar, voor wat je ons hebt gegeven, voor wat je betekende, je was een rolmodel en jouw openheid was een grote steun voor de holebigemeenschap.
Ik kan gewoon niet genoeg woorden vinden...
Veel sterkte voor familie en vrienden, mogen jullie steun en hoop bij elkaar vinden.

Slaap zacht, we zullen je missen en deze is voor jou meid:
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Soren Kierkegaard

Ik ben zo geschrokken toen ik het las. Yasmine was voor mij de eerste vrouw waarvan ik wist dat zij net als ik was. Ze was er zo normaal mee, dat het mij liet zien dat het niets is om zich voor te schamen. Ik ben echt geschrokken. Ik wens haar familie, dochter en iedereen die om haar gaf veel sterkte toe.

This is very depressing... :( My thoughts and prayors are with the family in this tough time for them.  

A great loss indeed. Yasmine was a rolemodel for lesbian girls here in Belgium. She was a public broadcast presenter who was so open about her sexuality she became an icon. She was also chosen as "de grootste holebibelg" (biggest LGBT Belgian) by Weljongniethetero, a Belgian LGBT community.

You can find a fragment here which she sings an ode and lovesong to a colleague who is leaving the public broadcast : http://www.deredactie.be/permalink/1.552080

Yasmine was a very warm, gentile person in Belgian 'showbizz' ...

she was a great example to many of the lesbian and gay people in Belgium.

I actually think that the fact she's mentionned on AfterEllen.com shows how important she really was in our little country ...

It's increadibly sad - but in the same time (forgive me if I put this in a wrong way) 'beautiful' that you can love somebody THAT much, you just can't live life without her ...

Love has proven again to be both beautiful as terribly heart breaking ...

We'll miss you Yasmine !

When full adoption became legal in Belgium for same-sex couples, I followed the mandatory course organised by the Belgian Family Organisation. That was in May 2007 and Yasmine/Hilde was one of the participants (she followed the course in Ghent rather than in Antwerp, where she was from because it was more suitable). Everyone in the room - gay and straight - knew who she was of course but that didn't make the slightest bit of difference to her. She was just Hilde, happy to be there, down to earth, excited about the adoption and very much in love with her wife. The second and last day, she insisted on everyone going for lunch together. Like everyone, I was shocked to hear the news yesterday. I can't for the life of me imagine what drives a young, attractive and talented woman to take such desperate action. She will be missed.

I guess Yasmine was just one of those role models. I didn't have her poster up on my wall and I didn't go and buy her new album instantly but I applauded her every time I saw her on tv, singing or performing, or just talking about her life. She was a great example for all us Belgian lesbians. She just lived her life.  She fell in love openly, she married openly, she had a child openly. She made being a lesbian couple a lot more 'normal' and showed everyone you had to live your life, not just talk about being gay.

I was shocked to hear the news yesterday and have had trouble dealing with it eversince. It is tragic that the loss of a love, the love of her life, can destroy such a powerful woman. But I guess we already knew that from centuries of stories, songs, plays, movies, ...I am just so saddened that she became the story with the dark ending instead of the happy one. Thank you Yasmine for living your life the best you could. Now it's up to us to accept you wanted it to end. 

:(

it makes me sad a person choses death over life and feels so much pain that there seems to be no other way than to commit suicide.

BUT!

I think it was too irresponsible from her, so cruel and thoughtless to leave her daughter behind. She lost a parent and will never ever find a satisfying answer to it.

As a mother she was too selfish. In that case i see no excuse for her, as sorry as this news is. 

Very very sad news....

I guess we're all shocked, because she was indeed our 'Ellen' who paved the way for lots of lesbians. My mom rang me in tears when she heard the news: beforehand she always said that she was thankful that Hilde/ Yasmine made it easier for me (and lots of other girls) to come out.

When listening to the song 'porselein', you understand everything better..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgTRjwITfY4

Main theme: she'll stare at the world as a winner and looks strong but actually she's like porcelain: fragile/ vulnerable. So treat her with care... 

I still can't believe the news actually...

@ Chequered: I don't think you can call it cruel/ thoughtless... you don't know how she felt (neither do I obviously) I think this act of despair proves how deeply hurt/ lonely/ despaired she felt/was. I'm not at all saying it was the right thing to do, on the contrary it's incredibly sad that she didn't see an other way out.. still it's not to us to judge what she did, is it?

It's such sad news.. I couldn't believe it when I read about it. It's so weird knowing that we will never see her again. She was such great and talented person..she'll be missed :( my condolences for her friends and family.  Rest in peace

It makes me feel sad whenever I hear news like this.  She was a beautiful person.

--

www.twitter.com/your_tourniquet

When I first heard the sad news, I was in shock and couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it today. I know the whole world is sad over Michael jackson. But for me, this is much harder to get my head around. And I'm not just saying that cause she was gay.

I didn't know her personaly but she seemed such a nice, warm and friendly woman. And she was also an icon, our Ellen like some have already said. It's weird knowing  I will never see her on tv again. My condolences to her family and friends.

She was so fantastic, a beautiful role model for so many people. Someone to look up to. She's meant so much to people because of how she lived. I just can't wrap my mind around it. This is beyond words...

She will be gravely missed... Yasmine, respect. Je was een fantastische vrouw.

just like the other belgians here i was sad when i heard the news about Yasmine!! I saw here picture a lot these days ( i work in a bookshop where they also sell papers), but it's still hard to realize she isn't there any more.... last week she still was on tv...

I hope here familie will get 'over' here death and don't think it's there fault!! it must be a very difficult time for them! i think her exwife must be devistated... yes, she divorced from yasmine, but she would never wanted that yasmine decided to die because it was to hard for her to lose her wife.

Yasmine you were a beautifull person who we will miss a lot!!