Out pro volleyball player and Olympic champion Douglas Souza used his massive social media platform this week to share about the homophobia he and his boyfriend experienced at an airport in the Netherlands. Now, a spokesperson for the border patrol is speaking out, and they are offering a very different version of what happened.
In a video posted to his Instagram stories yesterday, the 26-year-old Olympic athlete explained that he and his boyfriend, Gabriel, were passing through the Netherlands on their way to Italy when a border patrol official seemed to take issue with the fact that they were a gay couple.
“Basically, it was me and my boyfriend, we took a flight from São Paulo to Amsterdam and there we had to go through passport control to go to Rome,” he explained. “Until then everything was calm. By the time we went to control, the guy was super cool. He asked me what I was going to do in Italy. I explained that I was a volleyball player.”
But when Souza, who is currently the most followed pro volleyball player in the world on Instagram, explained that Gabriel was his boyfriend, he says “the treatment changed.”
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According to Sausa, the official called another man over, who led the two into a different area and told them to wait.
“They left us there for about five hours without any kind of explanation,” he recalled. “After about five or six hours, they called me in a small room to ask what I was going to do there.”
“They hit the key again about who Gabriel was and I tried to explain that it was my boyfriend and they had a lot of difficulty understanding. We had the document of the common-law marriage. They absolutely didn’t want to let Gabriel pass.”
But according to Mike Hofman, a spokesperson for the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee on matters relating to border control, cross-border crime, and migration, the treatment Sausa and his boyfriend received was not fueled by homophobia, but instead had to do with a travel ban between Brazil and the Netherlands.
“Currently, there is a travel ban between Brazil and the Netherlands. Passengers from Brazil are only allowed entry into the Netherlands when they fall under one of the exemption categories,” Hofman explains in a statement to Queerty.
“Sometimes this is quite difficult to determine. That’s when we do a second-line border control in a separate room. On the flight of Mr. Souza, there were multiple passengers that had to go through a second-line border check.”
Hofman says everyone who was held was processed within six hours and were eventually allowed entry into the Netherlands.
“Obviously, Mr. Souza’s sexual orientation had nothing to do with these checks,” he affirms. “Our officers are supposed to treat everyone in a respectful manner, regardless of their sexual orientation. If Mr. Souza feels that he wasn’t treated appropriately, we ask him to file a complaint with us.”
Queerty reached out to Souza for additional comment and to ask whether he filed a complaint. We will update this post if we hear back.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Fahd
I wasn´t there and if Mr. Souza believes that he and his boyfriend were discriminated against based on sexual orientation, I really think he should take this official up on it and file a formal complaint – although there´s a strong possibility that a complaint will lead to the airport officials being cleared of any wrongdoing, such a complaint could benefit everyone. At least it might lead to better communication with passengers who find themselves in a separate room going through a second-line border check. For example, updating them on what’s going on with document verification helps to reduce anxiety, etc.
In any case, I think the Netherlands government should be commended for the way they have stood up against homophobia and discrimination in the European Union. For example, the Netherlands Prime Minister is an engaged critic of what is going on in backward Hungary and its new homophobic laws there.
DCFarmboy
Its not fun and it does breed anxiety but no where in the world when you go to secondary do they update you as to what is going on. It has nothing to do with being gay. Clearly Mr. Souza had special permission to come to the Netherlands and it was extended to his boyfriend. Perhaps the vollyball officials did the arrangement, but he really should have known there is travel ban for Brazilians and that he was being let in under special circumstances — and that the results could be delays and additional questions.
simon1103
Totally agree, the Netherlands is one of the most gay friendly countries in the world
[email protected]
He was traveling to ITALY and was only IN TRANSIT for the Netherlands.
This is the problem when there is inconsistency among the Schengen countries. However after showing his connection flight boarding pass he should’ve been let through without delay. IMHO
Perhaps it was a homophobic border officer who just wanted to make their lives difficult? We weren’t there so I’d take the volleyball players word.
DCFarmboy
“However after showing his connection flight boarding pass he should’ve been let through without delay. IMHO”
There is no such right for anyone crossing an international border.
RyanMBecker
matt67nova,
So what? Are you claiming that “in transit” can’t spread the COVID virus? The rules are there and Souza does not deserve special treatment. Just as he also doesn’t deserve special discrimination because he is gay.
As for believing Souza, what in this story or his description gives any hint of homophobia? Did the agents say anything homophobic? Did they single him out? Was he treated any differently from any Brazilian going through the Netherlands? Where do you see any evidence of this?
Note that I’m not accusing Souza of lying. Indeed, I’m saying that he didn’t lie because his story of events doesn’t conflict with those given by the officials. Both agree that he was held for 6 hours. And as I point out above, Souza never claimed that they said or did anything homophobic. Where Souza erred is to automatically assumed homophobia without asking if heterosexuals traveling through the Netherlands got the same treatment. In other words, he cried wolf, which harms the LGBT community at large.
In contrast, the Netherlands has a history of gay equality. And gays as well as gay couples travel there en masse for vacation and no complaints of airport homophobia have ever surfaced. Your choice to believe Souza over the officials stem from your own biases and not evidence.
RyanMBecker
matt67nova,
As a frequent international traveler living in a COVID hotspot, Souza should have known to check travel restrictions before boarding international flights. Brazil is blacklisted by many, if not most, countries. Blame their irresponsible president.
In fact, the Dutch restrictions on “traveling through” is adopted by many countries. Of note, even Brazil has a similar restriction on India, another COVID hotspot. Anyone who has simply traveled through India is subjected to the same highest restrictions as someone who lives there. Look it up.
For Souza to automatically cry homophobia is irresponsible and even defamatory. It’s also a disservice to gays considering traveling to the Netherlands. He owes the Dutch an apology or at least a corrective post on social media.
Jim
Sounded fishy that this discrimination would happen in the Netherlands.
Now we know it was just a media whore doing his thing.
Mack
I’m glad you were there and saw the whole thing and speak the truth. Must be a right winger or a flamer.
Being in an area where there is going to be inspections or questioning, one would think there is a video with recording that could clear this up.
Mattster
This response might be true, but doesn’t seem to fit the facts very well.
1) If there is a travel ban between Brazil and the Netherlands, how did this flight even take place? Are Dutch authorities unaware of where planes are coming from until they interrogate passengers and hold them for hours?
2) If there’s a travel ban, there’s a travel ban. Doug and his boyfriend/spouse/whatever were eventually allowed to go. Why, if there’s a travel ban? Either there’s a ban or there isn’t. It’s not called a travel “delay and inconvenience “, it’s called a travel ban.
3) Doug Souza reports that everything was OK until his BF came up, after which all the questions seemed to be about their relationship. This seems like homophobia, not a travel ban. I trust that Doug Souza knows homophobia when he sees it, as every gay man does.
Just because the Netherlands is generally progressive re: LGBTQ issues does not mean homophobia is nonexistent there, and it’s extremely naive to think otherwise, especially when it comes to law enforcement and other authorities. San Francisco and downtown Manhattan have plenty of bigots, too.
Overall, I believe Doug Souza, and I hope he makes a complaint. This statement reeks of an organization trying to save itself embarrassment. If Doug had not blasted it on his social media platform, no one would have heard about it and chances are it would recur.
jayceecook
@Mattster You’re not very bright are you? Don’t answer. Your comment already did. Do your research. Google is your friend. I’ll even give you a hint
https ://www. government. nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad
RyanMBecker
Mack,
It’s a shame that you would lazily accuse anyone of being “a right winger or a flamer” simply because they disagree with you. And no, we don’t have to be there to make a rational judgement. There is simply no evidence of homophobia. He certainly didn’t state any other than the fact that they didn’t let his boyfriend through (which matched protocol). He never said that straight couples from restricted countries were given better treatment.
As for videos, routine questioning is not taped. This was not a risky situation or even an interrogation. It was a clerical situation where paperwork needed correcting or clarification. The only video that may exist is security footage at the checkpoint, which has no audio.
The bottom line is that Souza was coming from a COVID hotspot that is blacklisted by many countries. And the rules say that he is subjected to extra restrictions if he had no exemption. Apparently his boyfriend didn’t have an exemption. Keep in mind that unmarried partners usually don’t have the same privileges as married ones. I’m not sure what a Brazilian “common law” marriage is, but Brazil has marriage equality so I would assume that it’s not equivalent to a full legal marriage. As such, Gabriel might have been treated as a boyfriend. Notably, very few states in the US — not even liberal California and New York — recognize common law marriages. With marriage equality, either you’re married or you’re not.
odowd4sure
So the reporter names him as Douglas Souza and a few times as Sausa, could they fact check a little better or get the correct spelling of his name and be consistent?
trojanboy
Sounds like he is clutching his pearls too tightly.
RTG
This is an updated version of the story. The first version didn’t reference the Covid issue at all. Their treatment is completely consistent with the guidelines on the Netherlands official site for Covid travel restrictions. No story here. Much ado about nothing and a lot of presumption.
Max
“Obviously, Mr. Souza’s sexual orientation had nothing to do with these checks,” he affirms.
it doesn’t seem that obvious for the traveling couple. if the border patrol or customs agent doesn’t say what the issue is, what’s anyone to think when you end up sitting hours in a room?
RyanMBecker
Being the Netherlands, I certainly wouldn’t automatically assume that sexual orientation is the issue. I’d much sooner assume that it was my nationality (there was a well-publicized incident, for example, where the Dutch confiscated ham sandwiches from Brits after Brexit — ham cannot be imported freely into the EU). The Netherlands is a magnet for gay vacationers, including gay couples, and I have yet to hear complaints or warnings from gay travelers or travel agencies about discrimination at the airport. Even during COVID.
What gives you the idea that the agents didn’t give a reason for detaining them? The Dutch speak English fluently, so I assume that Souza doesn’t understand the current lingua franca. It was Souza’s responsibility to look up the current rules for travel before buying their tickets, and certainly before boarding. Being a frequent international traveler, it should be be routine for him to check the latest restrictions. And being Brazilian, he should know that given the state of COVID in the country, they are blacklisted in many countries — including his destination of Italy.
Of note, Brazil has the same restrictions for India, another COVID hotspot. Anyone from or merely having passed through India are subjected to Brazil’s toughest travel restrictions.
hansniemeijer
Be prepared before you travel. Read the updates of any guideline. And there is, although not wide spread, homophobia in the Netherlands, and xenophobia and racism.
Doug
When I read the article the other day I thought it was strange that the alleged discrimination was happening in the Netherlands, of all places. LGBT rights there are extremely progressive. They legalized same-sex marriage twenty years ago.