I’m already looking forward to Wednesday! Why, you ask? Because I will be snogging for a good cause. You see, Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf is calling upon us (gays, bisexuals, transgenders, straight folks, and what have you) to get together on Wednesday night for a loving kiss.
Last week, while leaving a restaurant, he and his boyfriend walked to their bicycles and paused for a peck. While kissing, there was a one-man protest from a nearby snackbar owner claiming they were on his property and that they had to get out of his sight. A discussion started, multiple people joined in, things got heated and now Olaf is making a statement with his KISS-IN.
The responses are mixed. While some people think it’s a bad idea and turn this into a discrimination matter (way to go, I think we need a ‘Godwin‘ word for these kinds of things too) others have responded with great enthusiasm. Personally, I think it’s an awesome and loving way to show people that here, everybody can kiss whoever they want. I can’t imagine wanting to kiss the person I love and having people I don’t even know give their opinion on whether or not I should be kissing that person, and where. It does not concern them, or can we have a peek in their bedroom too and critique the way they love? Let’s just turn this whole damn city into one big peep show where everybody can tell others what they should and shouldn’t be doing- lovewise- and call it ‘freedom of speech’.
This doesn’t sound too appealing now does it? Some people are saying that nobody should kiss on the street, that it makes them uneasy. Well, I have a solution: look the other way. Not everybody gets that way, some are more comfortable than others. There are no rules to abide by. Personally, I hate it when people don’t know who has to brake and who has to speed when I want to pass them by on my bicycle but you don’t hear me going off at every single imbecile on a two wheeler. You know why? ‘Cause there is a time and a place to keep your mouth shut. Not everything is an issue. Personal preferences don’t need to be elevated every chance you get. If you can’t say something nice..don’t say anything at all.
Just before this went online, Erwin Olaf has made peace with the owner of the snackbar. Great, but the KISS-IN is still on. For freedom, for love, for kissing. So, click above this article to hear the best soundtrack for Wednesday and grab your lipbalm. I sincerely hope you will all be there.
Erwin Olaf’s KISS-IN
Where: Hugo de Grootplein 5
When: Wednesday night, 20.30 hr.
Website: Facebook
Image by Ana Luz on Flickr
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