Scraps from OK 78

New role for the child?

From the Dutch morning paper Metro, 23 February, 2001: The family is on the eve of a breakthrough. Children in the family have an increasing opportunity to voice their opinion, and it is taken seriously more often. Thus, their status is becoming more equal to that of adults. First there was the idea that children were no longer listening and were becoming more impudent all the time. Now, adults and especially parents are starting to see this as a reality and are accepting the new role of the child," said Dr. D. Lorré, child psychologist and director of Tico & Kico consultancy in Gentbrugge during a conference about kids marketing."

The last word of the article puts the matter into perspective. Now that research has shown kids to exercise considerable influence on their parents' spending pattern, they promptly become valid discussion partners, since they are promising customers. Well - if we live in a commercialized society anyway, we think sales stunts shouldn't be reserved for adult fools. All in all, it's not a bad plan to grant children more influence and recognition, in the wake of granting these rights to women.

Obituary

On 21 February, 2001, the German writer Nils Engelman (Heinz-Joachim Lange) died in Bremen. For some years he was chairman of the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft humane Sexualität e.V.", as well as editor of the informational magazine "AHS-Intern".

Joachim came in touch with me because of my novella "Costa Brava". It had made a deep impression on him and, as he once wrote to me later; it kept him from thoughtless conduct. He was depressed in those days and could not see any way ahead. A short-lived correspondence developed between us. At the request of his publisher I wrote an introduction to his first novel, "Luftraume". This strongly autobiographical book gives a broad outline of the author's life. It is not a cheerful book, but it gives a good insight into the difficult life of a man with pedophile feelings.

Not long after that, a second novel appeared. The earlier days of listlessness were over, and there followed years for Joachim in which he developed many activities. In the last period of his life he was intensely occupied with the homepage "Pädo-Portal".

He ultimately gave up his activities in Germany, in order to start a new life in a faraway country. This wasn't to happen: he died far too early at the age of 42. He did not live to see the house search at the "Geschäftsstelle" (the secretariat) of the AHS in Giessen in early March of 2001, ordered by the Public Prosecutor. This search yielded nothing and had no consequences. It was superfluous and only caused unnecessary anxiety. For a long time Joachim had intended to meet me, but it never came to that. I never met him in real life, which I now regret.

Dr. Frits Bernard

OK's released in the Netherlands

The issues of OK magazine that were confiscated from a member (at least one copy of all issues from 1 to 65) were returned by a Dutch court order. It was ruled that there is no child pornography to be found in any of the issues. You can request a copy of this ruling from us, which comes with a list of the issues that were returned.

MARTIJN barred from Dutch Gay Pride Day

This year we were barred for the first time from "Roze Zaterdag" (Pink Saturday), the Dutch Gay Pride Day which takes place in a different city each year. We had booked a stand on the information market of 30 June in Rotterdam. Last year we manned a stand in Maastricht and encountered no problems (see OK74).

This year, the controversy started with the Nederlandse Politie Bond (Dutch Police Association), who declared they wouldn't be present at the information market because of our presence. The Rotterdam broadcasting company TV Rijnmond gave this coverage. The number of volunteers and organizations that threatened to stay away if we would be allowed to the event then snowballed. This year's organizers, Rotterdam Roze, also received anonymous threats by telephone. Rotterdam Roze had already discussed our participation with us and announced on 31 May that there was, in their eyes, no reason to bar a lawful association. When the pressure mounted, they had another deliberation with us and we decided not to retreat voluntarily.

On 12 June, Rotterdam Roze announced that we were barred after all. In a press release the organization stated that "the discussion about the presence of this association for pedophiles threatens to overshadow the proper goal of Rotterdam Roze 2001 (the ten days of festivities culminating in Roze Zaterdag). The board has concluded that there is too little support for the association's participation in the information market. The unrest and pressure that have arisen among the participants, volunteers, and the organizing committee are in the way of a successful Rotterdam Roze 2001. {...} The board regrets that for the first time in the history of Roze Zaterdag this lawful association for pedophiles has to be denied access to the platform provided by the information market. But a further escalation of the incident would benefit nobody. Roze Zaterdag is not the right place for a meaningful discussion about the association in question. The board hopes this incident will give cause for further discussion elsewhere."

We spoke to various media and also issued a press release, in which we stated: "As a legal association (indeed, an association that calls on everybody to stay within the bounds of the law), we seek public discussion, rather than yield to booing and threats. Society has all kinds of lawful means to silence us and to guarantee a one-sided flow of perpetual misconceptions about us. We believe a boycott will not contribute to a solution of the issues involving youth, sexuality, intimacy and intergenerational relationships, which society currently does not know how to deal with. Societal boycotts will, however, contribute to frustration among persons who are attracted to youth, and breed among them the idea that they have 'nothing to lose'. MARTIJN tries to counter such fatalistic attitudes, but this aim is not made easy. We hope the consternation about MARTIJN and Roze Zaterdag will give rise to a discussion between ourselves and people within (and outside) the gay community."

The MARTIJN chairman [C.C.] asserted on Radio Rijnmond that a sexual attraction between men and boys or between women and girls also constitutes "homosexuality"; that a simplistic and vague dichotomy is being created of homosexuals on the one hand (who are glorified) and pedophiles on the other hand (who are execrated); and that there are descriptions in the scientific literature of positively experienced friendships with children with a sexual component. National radio stations quoted our fear that "moral panic will lead to despair among pedophiles".

The chairman of the moderate Christian party CDA in the Rotterdam town council, Lucas Bolsius, said on TV Rijnmond that he thought the information market was not the appropriate place for a discussion about pedophilia. He thought pedophilia is not normal and not comparable to homosexuality, and said Rotterdam Roze should not have expressed regret over their decision to bar us.

On 13 June, statements by MARTIJN were reflected in various national newspapers. In the Algemeen Dagblad: "We don't promote sex between adults and children, we just want to discuss the subject." In Trouw: "We had hoped to have a good discussion during Roze Zaterdag about relations between adults and boys. We were also on the information market last year. That went fine." In Het Parool: "MARTIJN's activities are lawful and we call on everybody to live by the law. Playing pedokiller may be fun for a while, but we are looking for a discussion." (A Dutch father who killed the man who touched his son in September of 2000 became known as the "pedokiller".) The various media offered us the opportunity to spread our message to a large audience.

source: 'Scraps from OK 78'; Translated from the Dutch text: "Snippers"; OK Magazine, no. 78; August 2001