Peter-Vincent Schuld

It’s never fun to have to write about heavy topics in which you have to deliver bad or shocking news.
You do your job, you hear both sides, but all the time you ask yourself “did I understand everything correctly”.
You not only ask critical questions to others, but also to yourself, you constantly reread the pieces.

In a short period of time I have now had to write two pieces about the most negative thing that a person can carry with him, namely hatred.
The latest story was published today. Hatred towards gays, transgenders, black people, etc., but also curtailing
women’s dignity and basic rights. Fortunately, there were several women in the story who went against that hatred and murderous intent.
There are a few things worth fighting for to the last drop of blood, and women’s rights are certainly one of them.

A woman gives life and is the core, the source of everyone’s existence. I was reminded of that one photo I took in Benin, West Africa, of local women carrying and cherishing their offspring. I couldn’t think of a better photo to open this opinion piece with.

It touches me that in a civilized society like the one in the Low Countries, we still have to climb the textual barricades
to stand up for women’s rights, animal rights and against, among other things, homophobia. But anyway, at the moment it is no different.

There are a substantial number of figures in our country and in our neighbouring countries, mainly from (conservative) Islamic circles who do not know the word civilisation. I’m talking about Islamic terrorists as well as hate-preaching imams and, last but not least, figures of the type of recalcitrant street thugs such as rapper Boef and associates. What do they have in common? Disrupting and insulting the free way of living and thinking.

Gays who are beaten to death for nothing…… because they share the love with people of their own gender.
But above all, let’s keep laughing and celebrating the free life and not let our freedoms be taken away from us.

I’m as straight as it gets, but I always get along with gay people in general.
But I love to make jokes about it where I also make fun of myself. I can still remember visiting an Ikea store in Valencia with a gay couple friend about 100 km from home. They needed some stuff for their B&B.

Now the whole world can rust my ass. If I suddenly feel like going crazy, I will.

I don’t care what others think about that. So I’m going out with those guys, I thought I’m going to adapt and I’m just going to act super effeminate. “Franky, what do you think of this pillow?” I said in a matter-of-fact tone as I gently and ostentatiously rubbed my fingers over the velvet fabric. And so it went on and on. Indistinguishable from the real thing. Other visitors to the store didn’t know what to do with it.

We all had the afternoon of our lives, laughing our asses off. It was pure entertainment to
imitate the female part of the couple excessively without hurting. Mockery, self-mockery, hearty laughter and putting things into perspective.
My own female better half, who was also there, spontaneously needed a Tena Lady Live.

Then you read in such a group as Multiculturals together 4G+ that homosexuals are wished death and that some would still like to do it themselves. To be honest, I don’t like that. It is my duty to write the story as accurately
and as factually as possible, but I too have a conscience and my conscience tells me that such hatred is too sick for words.

I once lived in Portugal and at one point my stepdaughter came to me with the words “Peter… do you have a minute?”, “Of course girl” I replied. “I have something to tell you something,” and she made a somewhat difficult face.
“Okay” I said, “just say it sweetie”. “I’m a lesbian,” she replied. To which I replied with a smile with “yes, okay, what’s the problem now?”.
I was very proud that she was the first to tell me and confided in me.

Her coming out had lasted less than 20 seconds and my acceptance of it had lasted less than half a second if it wasn’t less. In fact, I automatically accept that. It is as the Germans say “kein Thema”.

My stepdaughter’s face was beaming with happiness. I don’t care what kind of orientation she has, as long as she’s happy.
I gave her a big hug so she could be sure I meant what I said, but actually she already knew. What do you want with such a free-spirited, hedonistic, libertine and at times totally deranged stepfather.

So those damned hate-mongers are also targeting my stepdaughter, her friend and all those people with a different orientation.
Now she has learned some resilience from me in practice, so that she was able to put a decisive end to nauseous street thug behavior in a number of unpleasant situations.

The aversion to people with a dark skin color in that particular group that I wrote about also went through my marrow.

I have had the privilege of working and traveling extensively in Africa as a photojournalist and have never had any problems except for
a few incidents. On the contrary. I felt perfectly at home. Especially in Benin, West Africa, where I was often.

Shaking hands everywhere, having a chat everywhere, listening to what people have to say.
I felt in my element. You could read it on my face.

When I read statements about “Negroes this and Negroes that”, it really makes me sick. Look, a joke should be allowed and it can be “wrong”, I’m not averse to that myself. But to see black people as inferior? It doesn’t cross my mind.

Add to that the news images of black Africans being treated, traded, mistreated and murdered as slaves in Libya, and I feel even more indignant.

Yes, I know, people in dark Africa don’t all have it good. I once remember a stopover in Niamey, the capital of Niger. I walk into the hall of the airport and a young gendarme comes begging for money, a bit intimidating at first, but you have to see through that. Well, I just couldn’t make that in that setting, but I was able to come up with something that allowed me to respect the man and still not fall prey to the “bribery”. In fact, before I boarded the military plane again, they said goodbye without a bad word but with a firm handshake.

I remember once saying to my late father “Dad, it could very well be that one day I will come home with a dark beautiful lady”.
My father thought it was all fine.

I also remember a time when a waiter in the hotel where I was staying in Cotonou (Benin) was treated like “shit” by some Arabs on the terrace by the pool because he was dark-skinned. Yes, I really won’t let something like that happen. Since this is absolutely not an “Oh-what-is-Peter-good-show”, further details are completely irrelevant.

I love the world, I’ve traveled a lot, I’m going to travel a lot again and so you automatically meet other people in other cultures.

I once fell madly in love with a beautiful border security officer at the airport of Almaty, Kazakhstan. In an area at the airport where you are normally not allowed to take pictures, I had her hold my passport and took a picture of her. I immediately thought of that border guard who sang about Elton John in his hit song Nikita, noting that Nikita is actually a man’s name, but fortunately that’s not an issue for Elton John.

No, no hate for me. I have lived too much, traveled too much and experienced too many beautiful moments in many beautiful countries where I was a guest. Moments that have enriched me as a person and as a (photo)journalist and bring a smile to my face every day when I think back on them.

That doesn’t mean I’m naïve or unrealistic, that’s why I’m also harshly criticized and commented on if I don’t like behavior.

I advise Sylvana Simons to read both this piece and the piece I wrote about hate speech and murderous lust again with the well-intentioned advice to think twice before another torrent of nonsense comes out of her mouth and then wrongfully accuses people of racism, who do not yet feel or experience the word
and its meaning in 1 drop of their red blood cells.

Knowing that the world has very unpleasant, heartless, unloving types and ideas, we make the best of it every day.

Just a kind word, a token of appreciation, a smile and a flirtation. Life can be so beautiful.