Amsterdam | Free Willie, a naturist bar set up against intolerance

(Amsterdam) Massed around a billiard table, cues in hand, six men in the simplest apparatus bustle about and hit balls in a cozy atmosphere.

The only naturist bar in Amsterdam aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, Free Willie aims to be a refuge in the Dutch capital where tolerance – and pleasure – are in decline.

Nestled in a house on the edge of a canal, the establishment sports an overtly phallic decoration, from its logo to its coat racks.

The most prudish customers can wear underwear, but “we advise against this”, explains Richard Keldoulis, owner of the place, to AFP.

“Often, we see that if everyone is naked, the one or two recalcitrants end up taking off their underwear too,” he adds. Originally from Sydney, the smiling 61-year-old also owns a nightclub and a sauna.

Taking off clothes helps get rid of inhibitions and makes people “more open and relaxed,” he observes.

It’s not a question of sex, he assures, although some more intimate dark areas framed by thick red velvet curtains are available at the back of the bar.

“The idea is just to hang out at the bar and be naked with other people.”

Thursday evening is billiards night. At stake: a “nutcracker” trophy and a first prize of 50 euros.

“Tickling”

One of the players, Erik de Roo, a 67-year-old retired flight attendant, describes the bar as “sexually titillating.”

“For me, it’s more a question of freedom than sexuality,” retorts his companion Philip Bodifee, 56 years old. “But I am not blind, I am indeed inspired.”

In addition, Amsterdam needs safe places for its queer community, he adds, pointing to the context of growing intolerance, even violence, in the country known worldwide for having been the first to authorize same-sex marriage.

The pride parade on the canals attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year to the Dutch capital, seen as a temple of hedonism. But times have changed.

The Netherlands fell to 14^e of the Rainbow Index, which measures gay rights across the European continent, with growing concerns over hate crimes.

Rikkie Kollé, the first transgender woman to be crowned Miss Netherlands last year, said she had received several death threats.

In an incident that made headlines across the country, a group of football fans disrupted a meeting of an LGBTQ+ community of under-18s, insulting them, attempting to burn a rainbow flag sky and beating an adult volunteer.

“Safe spaces”

Amsterdam is unrecognizable since its arrival from Australia thirty years ago, observes Mr. Keldoulis. There were more than a hundred gay places then, compared to around twenty today, he estimates.

So it’s “really, really important that we have places where we can come together, where all the staff are gay or queer.”

“We need safe spaces because most gay places are now full of heterosexuals, which is not a problem, but for many gay people it is no longer safe,” adds Bodifee. .

He himself was the victim of an attempted intimidation last week when a group of teenagers verbally attacked him, shouting “homo”, he explains.

The Dutch capital has adopted a tougher attitude towards sex, according to the owner of Free Willie.

“Sex, drugs and rock and roll: they don’t want that image in the city anymore. For me, it’s a shame, because that’s why I came here,” he says.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema wants to move the famous Red Light District from the center of the city to an “erotic center” in the suburbs.

“It’s very, very difficult to open anything in Amsterdam that has to do with sex,” Mr. Keldoulis continues. “I think it’s a shame because a lot of queer places have some sort of sexual element to them.”

As a result, he fights for tolerance and pleasure, “one naturist bar at a time”.