Dutch Men Experience Labor Pains

With the help of a device that simulates the contractions. Click on the "CC" button over at YouTube for captioning in English.

(Via Boy Culture)

HOLLAND: Catholic Abuse Scandal Widens

Holland's massive child molestation scandal continues to widen as investigators identify hundreds of perpetrators within the Catholic Church.

Tens of thousands of children have suffered sexual abuse in Dutch Catholic institutions since 1945, a report says. The report by an independent commission said Catholic officials had failed to tackle the widespread abuse at schools, seminaries and orphanages. But the report also found that one in five children who attended an institution suffered abuse - regardless of whether it was Catholic. Allegations at a Catholic school in the east Netherlands triggered the inquiry. The commission, which began work in August 2010, sought to uncover what had gone on and how it had happened, and examined what kind of justice should be offered to victims. It studied 1,800 complaints of abuse at Catholic institutions, identifying 800 alleged perpetrators, just over 100 of whom are still alive.

Dutch Anti-Bullying PSA

Amsterdam Pride's Canal Parade

Another fab gay event on my bucket list. One of these days.

Transfer Accelerator

Dutch rail officials call it a "transfer accelerator," but they concede that the slide on the right of the above stairs is meant to make commuting more playful. I'd totally use it. Video at the link.

DNA Spray

A business district in Amsterdam has begun using "DNA spray," an adhesive mist triggered by store clerks, motion detectors, or by remote camera surveillance operators during a robbery or holdup. Chemical markers injected into the mist identify the precise time and location of the incident.

“The procedure is simple: during a holdup a nebula of invisible liquid with a synthetic DNA code is spread in the space. the liquid attaches itself to the clothes and skin of the perpetrator and cannot simply be washed off. DNA-spray is practically invisible to the human eye, but lights up under UV-light. Suspects with traces of DNA-spray are easily traceable to the scene of the crime for the police.”

The above-linked Dutch blogger worries that DNA spray could be used by governments to identify the attendees at political protests.

The Dutch Are PISSED At Gen. Sheehan

Led by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch government today blasted retired U.S. Gen. John Sheehan over his claim that gay Dutch soldiers caused the Bosnian genocide.

"The remarks were outrageous, wrong and beneath contempt," Balkenende told a news conference. The Dutch Defense Ministry called Sheehan's claims "absolute nonsense" and added that gay Dutch soldiers routinely cooperate with the U.S. military in the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen called the claim "the bizarre private opinion of someone without an official function". Renee Jones-Bos, the Dutch ambassador to the United States, said in a statement, "I couldn't disagree more" with Sheehan, adding there was no evidence of his claims in the extensive record of research on Srebrenica. Military unions were equally angry. Dutch news agency ANP quoted the head of the military union AFMP as saying Sheehan's comments were "out of the realm of fiction", while the head of the gay soldiers' group SHK called his comments "the ridiculous convulsion of a loner".

The Dutch commander that supposedly informed Sheehan about those weak gay soldiers has not come forward, if he exists at all.

Gays Protest At Dutch Catholic Church

About 300 protesters, many in pink wigs and shirts, walked out of services at a Catholic church in the Netherlands yesterday in reaction a gay man being denied communion for being a hell-bound sinner.

This dispute began during Dutch carnival celebrations earlier in February, when the man chosen to be carnival prince in nearby Reusel was refused communion because of his open homosexuality. The refusal offended many in the local community. The Sint-Jan church in the city of 's-Hertogenbosch, also known as Den Bosch, was prepared for the protest and so decided not to give out Holy Communion during Sunday Mass. Several hundred demonstrators, dressed in pink wigs and clothes, left the church in protest. The man at the centre of the row has said he just wants equal treatment - if he is regarded as a sinner, he wants the priest to refuse communion to all other sinners too.

Openly Lesbian Dutch Speed Skater Ireen Wüst Wins Gold Medal

Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst, who came out as lesbian last October, won the gold medal in last night's women's 1500 meter final.

Wust, who won the 3,000 and was third in the 1,500 four years ago in Turin, won with a time of 1 minute 56.89 seconds. "Pulling all the pieces together, I'm so proud and happy. I can't describe how happy I am. I don't have words for it," said Wust, who broke down crying on the medal podium while the Dutch national anthem was played. "I think I'm the happiest person on Earth right now." Kristina Groves of Canada was second in 1:57.14 and Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic took the bronze in 1:57.96 to add to her gold from the 3,000 at these games.

VIDEO: Ireen Wüst celebrates with her countrymen at Vancouver's Olympic Holland House.

RELATED: Openly gay Australian diver Matthew Mitcham won gold at the Beijing 2008 games after landing the highest scoring dive in Olympic history.

Afternoon View - S Train

The Times Square-Grand Central shuttle is currently wrapped inside and out to promote Holland.

Haiti Speech Fail

From Holland's Comedy Central.

80's Flashback

Vanessa, Upside Down (Dizzy Does It Make Me), 1982. Cheese! Camp! Cheesy camp! This clip by Dutch disco queen Vanessa, whose makers obviously watched ONJ's Physical a few times, was quite popular in gay video bars thanks to all the beefcake. I remember being told that one of the bodybuilders was a gay U.S. porn star, but one of you guys will have to give us his name. (It might be the guy doing preacher curls, I'm not sure.) Vanessa is married to one of the richest guys in Holland and staged a comeback a few years ago, appearing at Amsterdam Pride in 2005. File this one under "guilty pleasure."

Amsterdam's Mayor Weds NY Couples To Send Message To U.S.

Yesterday the mayor of Amsterdam married five bi-national couples on a gay Pride party boat to send a message to the United States about marriage equality and immigration reform.

The mayor of Amsterdam married five American-Dutch gay couples on Saturday in an implicit criticism of the lack of same-sex marriage in many U.S. states. Tens of thousands of spectators cheered as Mayor Job Cohen performed the ceremony on a cruise around the city's canals to celebrate the high point of the city's gay pride festival. Eight years ago Cohen presided over the first legal Dutch gay marriage. All five couples had at least one partner from New York, where a battle over the legalization of gay marriage rages on.

"For me it's a message to New York, the most liberal state, the most hip state, to get with it," said Ira Siff, an opera professional from New York who was about to marry his partner, opera singer Hans Heijnis. The New York-Amsterdam connection is much in the news this year, with the cities celebrating a 400-year relationship in 2009. Cohen called the couples a "figurehead" for that bond. "Your transatlantic love is proof of the lasting connection between old and new Amsterdam," Cohen said in the service.

Very nice.

Holland: Schools May Ban Gay Teachers

In what some say is evidence of the increasing influence of Muslims in the Netherlands, a leaked letter from the country's Council Of State advises that the nation's state-funded religious schools are allowed to fire gay teachers.

The Council of State, the highest advisory body to the Dutch government, says religious schools can exclude gay teachers if they behave in ways that go against what the institution stands for, even if it’s outside the classroom. According to the advisory paper, schools are not allowed to discriminate, but they do have a right to make specific demands of their staff. European guidelines entitle schools to "demand explicit loyalty from their staff" to pass on their values, the council says. Those demands have to be directly related to the foundations of the school or other religious institutions. The current anti-discrimination law in the Netherlands states that even religious schools are not allowed to let the "single fact" of someone's sexual preference, race or gender be a factor in the hiring or firing process. But the law leaves room for so-called "additional behaviour" to be factored in. A teacher could be dismissed for "a certain lifestyle" that goes against what the institution stands for; a relationship with someone of the same sex could be qualified as such.

A representative of Islamic schools in the Netherlands exults: "Judaism, Christianity and Islam disapprove of acting gay (...) If that is what you are, apply at a different school. There are plenty of jobs at non-denominational schools."

Dutch Eurovision Entry Threatens Boycott If Moscow Police Stop Gay Pride Parade

Russian gay activists have asked contestants at this weekend's Eurovision Song Contest to boycott the finals if Moscow police attempt to interfere with the gay pride parade on that day. The lead singer of the Netherlands' entry, The Toppers, is the first to agree.

Dutch singer Gordon has said he will boycott the Eurovision Song Contest if Moscow police use violence against gay rights activists. Gordon, whose real name is Cor Gordon Heuckeroth, fronts the band The Toppers along with Jeroen van der Boom and René Froger. They will be in the May 16th final if they make it through the selection rounds. He told NOS radio: "If people of my kind are being discriminated against in such a way, I have nothing to expect from this Russia, and I will be on the first plane home." Russian gay rights movement leader Nikolai Alexeyev is planning to hold a gay pride march before the city hosts the Eurovision final. He has said he expects up to 500 people to join the parade, named Slavic Pride, despite official threats to close down any march.

Here is The Toppers' fun Eurovision 2009 entry, Shine.

RELATED: British gay activist Peter Tatchell will again be attending Moscow Pride, where he was brutally beaten in 2007 by anti-gay extremists while police stood by. After the attack Tatchell was arrested and held without charges. Police refused to seek his attackers despite photo and video evidence of their identities. You can follow Tatchell's experiences at this year's Moscow Pride on Twitter.

Erasing Bad Memories

Researchers in Holland think an existing drug can be used to help you erase a specific bad memory, something that could be very useful to victims of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dutch scientists claim to have shown that the beta-blocker propranolol can "erase" unpleasant memories - a discovery which "opens up new avenues for providing a long-term cure for patients with emotional disorders". Professor Merel Kindt and his team from the University of Amsterdam first subjected human volunteers to a "fear acquisition" process - that of causing them to associate pictures of spiders with a mild electric shock delivered to their wrists. A day later, the volunteers were divided into two groups, once of which was given propranolol and the other placebo pills. All then underwent "memory reactivation" by enjoying the spider pictures for a second time. The team measured the "conditioned fear response" to the images by testing how the subjects reacted to a sudden loud noise - indicated by their "eyeblink startle reflex", aka "startle response".

Other scientists are skeptical of the study. One points out that the victim of a violent crime might lose the will to testify against their assailant if the bad memory were lessened. I have a couple of memories I'd love to press the delete button on.

HIV Attack Trial Underway In Holland

Insanity.

Three men have gone on trial in the Netherlands accused of deliberately infecting at least 14 other men with HIV - the virus that causes Aids. The prosecution says the three promoted gay sex parties on the internet, then drugged and raped their guests and injected them with HIV-infected blood. Twelve of the alleged victims have tested positive for HIV.

The three defendants, all HIV-positive, deny the charges. They face up to 21 years in prison if convicted. They are charged with assault, rape and possession of illegal drugs. The court, in the northern city of Groningen, heard that the three men allegedly drugged their party guests with a combination of ecstasy and a date rape drug before sexually assaulting them and injecting them with their own HIV-positive blood. A lawyer for the alleged victims said they would launch a civil case for compensation if the defendants were convicted. "They are hoping the trial will provide an answer to the question of why this happened to them," said the lawyer, Fred Kappelhof.