Always looking for someone to go to bed with

On February 20, 2013, a public panel discussion took place in the Denkcafé series of the Arminius Conference and Debate Center in Rotterdam on the subject of pedophilia. The moderation was provided by Mirella van Markus, an experienced TV presenter for the news program Hart van Nederland of the station SBS6.

A policeman, a sexologist, a psychologist, a sociologist for gay studies at the University of Amsterdam and Marthijn Uittenbogaard, a pedophile activist, took part in the debate. At the end of the debate, the audience was allowed to speak. The last request to speak came from an old man.

There is a video of the panel discussion of the platform Vimeo. The comment begins at 1:52 and 7 seconds. Here is the transcription of the man’s words:


“I want to say two things. When I was thirteen and discovered sexuality, I was always looking for someone to go to bed with. And at some point I found that person.

He was forty years old and it was great. It was so important to me. That is point one. And the other thing I want to say: I’m gay, I wasn’t allowed to be who I was for a long time, and I hope that everyone can imagine what it’s like when you can’t be who you are.

If you love a woman and you must not love a woman. If you love a man and you must not love a man. And there we have the pedosexuals who have the same problem as I did in my youth. They must not feel what they feel, they must not be tender to whom they want to be tender.

I fully agree that abuse is terrible, but we have to do a lot to support these people in the situation they are in and try to understand them.”

[the audience claps]