Tuesday 1 July 2008

In memoriam: Father Jan van Kilsdonk

When I moved to Amsterdam in 1988 and started going out in the gay bars, I often saw an old man in his 70's in April bar. At first, I didn't know who he was (I must have thought he was just an average dirty old man looking for young cock), but soon I noticed he was approached by many in the bars and they were all very nice to him. I learned that he was a Catholic Priest who was very popular in the gay scene because he gave comfort to many AIDS patients. He also publicly said that homosexuality was "an invention of the Creator" which helped a lot in making homosexuality normal in this country. The Vatican tried to kick him out of church but he had powerful friends in the Netherlands and the people from Rome didn't succeed.
I regularly saw him in April bar until perhaps 6 or 7 years ago. I noticed he enjoyed the atmosphere in the bar, and have often thought to myself that he liked being around cute young men. He died today aged 91. May this good man rest in peace.

2 comments:

sgboy said...

so is he gay?

happyamsguy said...

Most likely, yes.....