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Kadeem van de Pol
The Netherlands
PROFESSION
Entrepeneur
Height
1.79
AGE
28
SOCIAL MEDIA
What is the reason you want to take part in Mr Gay Europe 2025?
Years ago, I thought the sky was the limit: I was approved to enrol in a PhD program in behavioural science, I participated in the national championships for the dancing style I was in, and I was about to receive an award for the work I did for homeless LGBTQAI-youth. It all seemed like a dream, until at the end of 2022, when I suffered a couple of strokes that left me completely paralysed on my left side. I’ve had a hard time coming to terms with this loss and accepting that my life would never be the same. Luckily, there's an amazing community of supportive people out there who inspired me to keep fighting. I managed to regain most of my mobility and the damage to my brain and body is barely visible anymore. By taking part in this competition, I hope to show that, with the right motivation and perseverance, the sky is not the limit, that you can be limitless.
Why you should be selected to become Mr Gay Europe 2025?
On my journey of rehabilitation, I have met a lot of people with unique and compelling stories. All of these stories would break your heart, but the people behind them were more radiant than you could imagine. None of them were deserving of what happened to them, yet they had one thing very important that would pull them through: each other. They taught me the value of community and they inspired me to develop my latest project that leverages the power of community for the benefit of suicide prevention among the queer community. I hope that, as an ambassador for our community in Europe, I will be able to elevate this project to a wider audience and inspire others to develop their own projects.
What you think is the biggest LGBT challenge in Europe today?
Acceptance. I believe intolerance is at the root of most lgbtqia-specific challenges. There would be barely any lgbtqia+-specific challenge if everybody in the world saw the members of our community as equals. Unfortunately, this thought might be too ambitious for the near future. In the meantime, I think we should focus on remedies for the consequences of this intolerance. Therefor, my projects have focussed on helping homeless queer youth, who have not been accepted in their home after coming out, and on leveraging the power of community for the benefit of suicide prevention.
VOTE
Voting opens on 01-07-2025
The Netherlands