And the kidney goes to...

Hoje eu queria comentar duas notícias vindas da Holanda, que tomaram conta do noticiário nos últimos dias: a questão do Donor Show na sexta-feira, e o escândalo sexual da transmissão proposital do hiv em Groningen.

Para quem não sabe, aqui vai a explicação dos fatos:

a) Donor show: está sendo preparado um novo reality-show na Holanda, será uma exibição única e irá ao ar amanhã: uma doente incurável em estado terminal vai escolher ao vivo entre três pretendentes, àquele ao qual ela vai doar os próprios rins quando morrer. Os candidatos precisam de um transplante para sobreviver, e até agora não encontraram doadores, portanto para eles é uma questão de vida ou morte. Big Brother é pouco comparado a isso: aqui quem ganha sai vivo, e quem perde, bem, a quem perde só restará a morte anunciada. É claro que o público participa. Os telespectadores poderão votar via sms no candidato que acharem mais simpático, e assim ajudar a doadora na sua escolha. Acusados de sensacionalismo, os produtores do programa se defendem alegando que querem acima de tudo chamar a atenção para o problema do transplante de órgãos e da falta de doadores, problema este que já custou a vida do próprio fundador da rede televisiva em questão, há alguns anos atrás. A Comissão Européia se pronunciou a respeito esta semana, condenando a exibição do programa por razões éticas. O mesmo foi feito por vários partidos políticos de esquerda e de direita. Assim mesmo o show vai ao ar, ao que parece. Preparem os seus telefones portáteis para a votação.

b) Foi descoberto em Groningen, no norte da Holanda, um grupo de três homens que infectou propositalmente pelo menos outros dez com o vírus hiv, no decorrer deste ano e no ano passado. Eles organizavam sex-parties em suas casas, e encontravam interessados via chat rooms na internet. Os convidados eram no decorrer da noite dopados com a droga ghb (é um líquido que se mistura à coca cola, uma das chamadas party drugs, muito usada em festas na Europa, e que se usada em excesso leva ao coma temporário), após o qual eram estuprados e injetados com um coquetel, feito da mistura do sangue contaminado dos anfitriões. Investigação iniciada, os acusados admitiram os fatos, e pelo menos cinco vítimas já prestaram queixa, confirmando a história. Todos foram testados, e estão contaminados. Segundo os culpados, eles agiam em nome da sensação de poder que sentiam ao dispor da vida de seus convidados, e além disso acreditam piamente que fizeram um favor a estas pessoas, uma vez que estes novos infectados nunca mais precisarão ter medo de fazer sexo inseguro, estão livres para transar como bem entenderem.

Eu sinceramente não sei qual das duas notícias é a mais ordinária, a mais revoltante, a mais nojenta. Repugnante. Eu acho que há algo de muito, muito errado em uma sociedade em que tais coisas aconteçam, em que tais fatos sejam aceitos ou tolerados. Alles kan???? Um país rico e "civilizado"como a Holanda. No Brasil há miséria até não se poder mais, há ignorância a perder de vista... no Brasil tudo é possível. Crianças são arrastadas pelo asfalto até a morte. Mas o Brasil é um país sem educação e sem cultura. E a Holanda?? Transmissão proposital do hiv e show de horrores na televisão. Os romanos no Coliseu ficariam encabulados com a nossa barbárie.

Que mundo é este, o que é que é isso????

Eu resolvi transcrever aqui a conversa que tive com um conhecido sobre o assunto, principalmente o segundo ponto, pois meu e-mail explica bem o meu ponto de vista Tive que editar um pouco para encaixá-lo aqui, mas deu pra preservar a essência da conversa.

Este foi o e-mail que eu recebi sobre a questão do hiv:

"Please spread info this among your networks as it might be a new trend, similar to the HIV/AIDS initiation parties where people explicitly want to get infected… (Guys organising gay sex parties, drugging the participants and injecting them with a cocktail of their own HIV-infected blood)

Shocking!!

13:59 30 Mei 2007
Hiv-bloed ingespoten op seksparty'sIn Groningen zijn vier verdachten in een bizarre zedenzaak opgepakt. Ze zouden mensen hebben geïnjecteerd met een cocktail met hun met hiv besmette bloed. Ze hebben grotendeels bekend. De mannen organiseerden in de stad Groningen wekelijks seksfeestjes voor homo's. Ze kwamen hun slachtoffers op het spoor via chatboxen. Op de feestjes werden de slachtoffers verdoofd met de partydrug GHB en vervolgens verkracht. Ook kregen ze hiv-bloed ingespoten. De politie kent vijf slachtoffers en zoekt uit of er meer zijn. In februari deed een slachtoffers aangifte, daarna volgden nog drie aangiftes."

Este foi o e-mail que eu redigi a alguns amigos, comentando o caso (abaixo). Peço perdão aos leitores brasileiros, está em holandês, mas é mais ou menos o mesmo repúdio que eu já manisfestei acima, e eu explico que infelizmente eu sei que existe muita gente no meio gay de Amsterdam com o mesmo tipo de mentalidade que esses caras de Groningen, e que infelizmente eu não me assustaria se um dia encontrassem algo igual por lá. E falo também sobre o Donor show, que talvez seja eu que tenha me tornado antiquado demais para os padrões holandeses do "tudo pode":

"Beste vrienden,

Dit informatie moet echt verspreid worden (lees aub hieronder), sorry voor de algemene email (en voor mij gebrekkige Nederlands)

Dat is echte walgelijk niews... bijna niet te geloven... ik moet toegeven dat ik zelf mensen in Amsterdam heb ontmoet, op de party-circuits en zo, die deden alsof hun hiv besmetting (en die van anderen) een "niks aan de hand" situatie was... (niet dat ik denk dat seropositiviteit tegenwoordig een stigma moet blijven, in tegendeel... maar een griepje is het toch ook niet). Mannen die maakten zichzelf totaal geen zorgen erover, tegenover hunzelf en tegenover anderen... condoms te gebruiken, dat paste gewoon niet bij de (lege) hoofden van die mensen.. "Doe je bare?", heb ik die vraag zo vaak gehoord.... Nee, Nee, Nee... maar ze blijven proberen, misschien totdat je zo high on iets bent dat je niet eens meer weet... Nee! En ik praat nu niet over Afrikanen of niet geintegreerde moslims of zo, nee, gewoon hoog opgeleide witte rijke Nederlanders... er zijn zo veel van hen in Amsterdam... en alles altijd met drugs, altijd met zo veel mogelijk drugs... tot de punt dat als je geen drugs wilt gebruiken, als jij geen sex-party ganger bent, ben je straks een outsider, een nerd, een looser. Jij telt niet. In die trap ben ik wel eens gevallen, tot mij spijt. Gelukkig kon ik nog mij leven en mezelf redenen.

Er is iets fundamenteel mis in de homo wereld in Nederland als zo´n perspectief bijna de norm van de dag vormt. Als de mensen met zo´n "whatever" mentaliteit door het leven lopen... alles voor de lol, alles voor de fun... wat voor fun is dat??? In die zin, ben ik zooo blij dat ik weg ben...ik mis Amsterdam, ik mis de Amsterdam van de grachten, van de mooie panden, van de terrasjes en van de boottochten... maar de ziek homo wereld van Amsterdam, dat mis ik helemaal niet. Brussel is definief saaier, lelijker, grijzer, maar mentaal gesproken het is zooo gezonder dan dat...

Niet eens te praten over die Donor show op tv... wat is er aan de hand met Nederlanders???? Hoe kan dat zo veel onzin, plotseling de gewoonste zaak van de wereld komt te zijn?? Een mens leven op tv te beslissen... ik begrijp het allemaal niet. Misschien ben ik die te dom voor Nederland ben. Ik ben te ouderwets gewoorden.

Sorry als ik zo opwindend reageer... maar dit niews, dat is echt te gek voor woorden. Het is Nederland op win engste, op zijn ergste, op zijn lelijkste. Ik ben sorry voor Nederland. Dat kon zo anders zijn.

Ik hoop dat jullie eens met me zijn.


groetjes, Antonio'

Aqui a reação de um amigo meu, que pelo jeito não entendeu o espírito da coisa, levou pro lado errado... mas preciso reproduzir o texto dele para que vocês, leitores, entendam o meu texto final:

"Hi Antonio,

What is your point in fact? If you are so ashamed of being Dutch (by nationality), why don’t you hand over your Dutch passport?
This world is crazy enough, you don’t have to generalize… How many Brazilians living in London are infected with HIV? I have a good friend from London who got infected by one Brazilian whore. Although he knew he is HIV, he kept having unprotected s*x with people, after telling lies and pathetic stories about his life in Brazil..
So, are the Duchies THAT suckers?
You don’t have to always be that judgmental, just live ur life and choose to have friends only those that fit in your world…"

E aqui a minha réplica, e ponto final nesta história pra lá de macabra:

"Dear X,


Nice to hear from you, always nice to get news from people I like... even though I see you are reacting a bit over the top here... calm down, my friend...

Do you have time to read? :-)

I have nothing against Dutch people in general... and I have nothing against Holland in general; people around me know I am always defending the country and its culture, as I have done in Spain and as I do now here in Belgium (and I can tell you; unfortunately over the past years the image of the Netherlands outside Holland has really gone down...). If one day I would come to the point of being ashamed of being Dutch, you can be sure I would give my passport away... but that´s not the case here... I am just being critical, that´s all. Nothing about being ashamed; I simply dont accept to pretend that everything is fine when it´s not. Call me whatever you want, but if there´s one thing in life that I am not, that I have never been, and that I never will, is a hipocrit. I refuse to shut up when I see something that is utterly wrong according to my principles. For the same reason, I left Brazil.

The fact that I am not "ashamed" of being Dutch does not mean that I cannot be critical about it. And what if I have criticism over Holland? Are we back to totalitarian times, where people couldn´t have a negative opinion about what was going on? I am a Dutch citizen, I pay taxes, I have duties and I have rights, I have learned the language and I can say I have never been dependent on any kind of social help. So I think I have the right to say what I think. Vrijheid van meningsuiting. If there´s one thing that makes me really proud of being Dutch, is the right to freedom. Freedom to be who I am and to say what I think. I remember the slogan during the military dictatorship in Brazil, "Brazil, love it or leave it". So is it now the same in Holland? Either I have to accept everything that is going on as if it´s just the way it is, or I have to give up my citizenship? These are the options? Sorry, I don´t fall in this trap. I will never agree to be pushed into such a corner.

I don´t say all I think, you know me personally and you know that in fact I say very little most of times. I am mostly an observer, not a talker. But what I say, I think, and I think a lot before I say something, and when I think I have something to say that is worth saying, I do it, and I stand for my opinions. Fortunately we live in a free part of the World, where each one of us is able to do that, right? :-) Nobody needs to agree with me... but I have the right to express my opinions.

Coming to your question: my point is that I find it outrageous that there are so many people nowadays with amper or no respect for the human life, and that things like this are happening more and more often, without any consequences. And unfortunately there are a lot of people like that in the gay scene in Holland. People wo are educated and who are well integrated in the society, therefore people who should in my humble opinion have a less selfish and individualistic approach to life. Not only there, for sure, but there is the country where I have lived most of my adulthood so far, so there is the place I can talk about. I can imagine that equal things might happen in London, in Brazil, wherever, but I cannot talk about it because I haven´t lived such experiences in those places.

One thing I can say, I was astonished of how many people I have met in Holland with such an approach in life. Totally careless about theirs and other peoples´ health. How many times I have been invited to such parties... how many times I had to insist with casual partners that condoms should be used... and how many guys have tried to have bare sex with me even after I had said I wouldnt... it happened so often... maybe just an enourmous bad luck from my side, always meeting the wrong people? Maybe I was just being incredibly naif, transitting in the wrong circles? Maybe. I think that´s a pity anyway that such things happen. Just like you, I know people who got infected because of having trusted people they should not have trusted, and I feel sorry and revolted that such things keep on happening, that´s all. Because I think that hiv infected people should not suffer the stigma that they still suffer today. People can survive with hiv and therefore people with hiv should be "allowed" to be seen as "normal" people and lead "normal" lives (the words I put in brackets, I do so in lack of better words). But unfortunately there is still a lot of prejudice against hiv infected people out there in the big society, and people like those guys in Groningen only help to make the stigmatisation even bigger, the gap even wider. Unfortunately.

I dont think I am being judgemental if I see a problem and I point it out. There is a problem if such things happen in Holland (or wherever else) and people dont get revolted, if people just take it as another "fait divers". It is not a fait divers. This is serious stuff. Hiv infection is a big problem and the number of infected gay men in Western Europe just increases, despite all the public health campaigns. What is going wrong? What lies beneath it all? There is a serious problem in a society that is not willing to look to itself in the mirror and heal its wounds. The old saying, the worst blind is the one who is not willing to see. And I talk about Holland because I am Dutch and because that`s the society I know. I cannot save the world, but I can try to bring my contribution to the place I "belong" to. And it´s not because such things might happen in other places that I will take it for granted that it should happen in the Netherlands as well. No, it should not happen. And if people accept it, then there`s a problem.

And to finish in good Dutch: Ik hou van Nederland en van Amsterdam. Ik mis Amsterdam. Ik mis de Amsterdam van de vrijheid. Ik mis de Amsterdam van het respect voor elkaar. Ik mis de Amsterdam van de openheid en van de vrolijkeid. Maar ik mis niet de Amsterdam van de onverantwoordelijkheid. Ik mis niet de Amsterdam van de onverschilligheid. Ik mis niet de Amsterdam van de onmenselijkheid. Die on-Amsterdam, zoals ik zelf noem, die on-Amsterdam mis ik helemaal niet.

Well, I hope you got my point now. You dont need to agree with me, as i said before, we all have the right to express our opinions, and we all have the right to disagree... and not be judged by that."


Bom, eu acho que deu pra entender o meu ponto de vista a respeito. No further comments needed, o horror fala por si próprio. A Morte fala todas as línguas e nenhuma.

E quanto à questão do Donor Show... como eu falei, pelo menos até agora, apesar de todos os protestos, o programa em questão vai ao ar... the show must go on... preparem os seus votos, há três candidatos e apenas um par de rins! Quem vai ganhar, quem vai perder? Sexta feira todos nós poderemos ser Deus, e experimentaremos ao vivo e a cores como é poder dispor da vida de alguém, decidir sobre a vida e a morte, assim como esses caras de Groningen já fizeram e tanto gostaram. Tudo pela emoção do momento. Deve ser mesmo melhor do que qualquer droga. Não percam, fortes emoções, a decisão final, depois dos anúncios dos nossos patrocinadores.

Dá licença que eu vou vomitar, ok?