Danish minister propose to ban zoophilia: Do you want to be heard? (self.zoophilia)
submitted 2014-10-13 18:59:26 by SoerenK

Hi everyone

I'm a Danish journalist. Our Minister of Food and Agriculture has just proposed a law that would make zoophilia illegal in Denmark.

I would like to do a story about this new proposal by the minister, and I'm looking for someone who could represent the zoophiles-side of this subject.

As you can imagine, that's not easy, so I want to ask you if you know how to get in touch with someone from Denmark or nearby countries?

Thank you very much.

Best regards Søren

[deleted] 2 points on 2014-10-13 20:41:19

[deleted]

Tundrovyy-Volk Canidae 6 points on 2014-10-13 20:43:52

Hello and welcome, Søren!

Let me begin by saying I am personally flattered that you are willing to write about us. Thank you, truly, for endeavouring to hear our side of the story, especially seeing as so few are willing or able to do that. It means a lot. :)

One problem for you in finding the interviewee(s) you need is that zoophiles tend to shy away and decline to be interviewed alone for reasons of personal safety or distrust, so I fear that you may not get a whole representation of the zoo community from someone brave enough to come forward alone, especially if they cannot do it anonymously.

As such, is it possible for you to interview our sub/community as a whole, perhaps by posting questions for us to answer and asking for our opinions? I know it is not traditional, but I think you may gain a more accurate representation of zoophilia to write about if you deal with us in a way that we are comfortable with and used to.

Thank you once again for taking the time to talk to us.

~ Tundrovyy-Volk

danpetman 3 points on 2014-10-13 21:23:40

I'd agree with this. Even leaving aside the fact that you're never going to find one person who can speak for an entire community (heck, we can't even all agree on what we should call ourselves), anyone who'd be willing to publicly go on record as a practicing zoophile would pretty much by definition not be representative of the average zoophile.

The zoophile community is very diverse and varied, even among as small a group as the members of this subreddit, so in order to get a meaningful sense of what this decision means for zoophiles, I think you'd really need to talk to several.

SoerenK 2 points on 2014-10-21 10:14:33

I don't think I will be able to do an interview for the community as a whole. I understand and respect your need for anonymity, but as a journalist I need to have some kind of knowledge about who I talk to, and an "open-interview" would be very difficult to give enough credibility. I hope you understand.

Last sunday I wrote an article for my newspaper in which a zoophile and a danish politician discussed the new law proposal.

This week I'm trying do a series of profiles of zoophiles to get to know the motivations and people of the community. I'm trying do as many as possible, so if you or anyone else wants to contribute please contact me.

This might be an opportunity to give a more accurate representation of the community.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to me

doghumper 8 points on 2014-10-13 21:31:39

I really wish I could come forward and give an interview but I fear for the safety of my dog. Most of us have little to win and everything to lose by going public.

As for some key points, the law is meaningless because it is unenforcable, it won't stop anyone. we already know that we are a tiny minority and disliked by many, so we try to keep to ourselves, quiet and hidden. It will actually be worse for animal welfare, as many zoophiles will become too afraid to bring their sick animals to the veterinary when they can have their animals taken away and their lives ruined.

The animal rights activists keep talking about animal brothels with zero evidence or reference, only claims and rumors. Zoophiles would support a ban on the commercial exploitation of animals, though. Animals are not sex toys, but they are sexual beings and we are more similar than some people like to admit.

A zoophilia law is extremely hypocritical, too. If you want to ban animal brothels, you should start by banning farms where animals are forced to breed, artificially inseminated, masturbated to collect their semen, young animals taken away from their mothers so we can collect the milk etc. etc. Why is there only outrage when the sex is for pleasure instead of profit?

SoerenK 1 point on 2014-10-21 10:07:59

I understand your concerns of coming forward. But thank you for taking the time to share your opinions. Are you from Denmark?

doghumper 1 point on 2014-10-21 20:28:15

Sorry, I'm norwegian. Zoophilia was made illegal here several years ago but I haven't heard about a single court case or police action so my life hasn't relly changed. Even if it used to be technically legal it would be social suicide to show my true self to friends and family. To everyone else I'm a shy computer nerd that lives alone with my dog and isn't very interested in girls. Maybe some of them think I'm gay.

I'm still a little nervous each time I bring my dog to the vet though, the last time we had to visit them she had a vaginal infection and I brought her in to get antibiotics before she had any other symptoms than very slight discharge... Some vets would probably wonder why I would notice so quickly. But my dog is so calm, confident and happy that hopefully they would leave us alone anyway.

Yearningmice Equus 1 point on 2014-10-14 12:38:27

So, you'll see lots of distrust here, obviously, as has been said there is a lot to lose if someone were to come out now and the law to pass. Of course, I see that goes both ways a little, how can you trust someone you don't know to put in print. It is a difficult position we are in.

I'd be happy to open up to you but it might take months or years for me to be sure of your intentions. I'm not from Europe though so....

I hope you can find what you are looking for and if you'd like to discuss what you find out with us, I'm sure we'd be happy to talk to you about it. I've forwarded your request to some folks who might be interested. There is also the german group you can find via their blog.

http://www.zoophiler-tierschutz.info/

They have been fighting the anti-zoo groups responsible for these new laws in Germany.

SoerenK 1 point on 2014-10-21 10:06:42

Thank you very much for passing on my request. If you decide to talk to me please don't hesitate to PM. I would like to talk to as many as possible.

Sapphire_seam Equus ferus caballus 2 points on 2014-10-15 11:19:42

Well, I am in australia. I would be Interested. PM'd you

SoerenK 1 point on 2014-10-21 10:07:01

Thank you very much!

b492073 1 point on 2014-10-15 15:58:52

Send a PM

SoerenK 1 point on 2014-10-21 10:05:52

Thank you very much. If anyone else wants to talk, please don't hesitate to contact me

furvert_tail Equine, large canid 3 points on 2014-10-16 07:55:58

When I was young, I saw a documentary on TV showing how varied sex education was throughout Europe. One of the clips was a Scandinavian teacher asking her students if they had seen anything involving animals, and one of the students said "yes, a woman stripped off all her clothes and danced naked around a horse".

I wanted to move to Denmark, not for the freedom to have sex, but for the freedom to be open about who and what I am. I don't like hiding. I don't like having to pretend I'm normal. My sex education didn't prepare me for being what I am, and I hoped to live in a nation that could help me.

~ F. T.

b492073 1 point on 2014-10-16 16:04:06

Anybody got any sort of response so far?

SoerenK 2 points on 2014-10-21 10:05:27

I just sent you a PM. I'm interested in talking with as many as possible, so if anyone else want to talk, please send me a PM.