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10/24/2003 Entry: "Gay predators?"

On one of my recent jaunts around the internet, I came across a page which claimed to provide detailed scientific information about "what homosexuals do". It was very explicit and detailed, but how much of it was true? (I'm not at all anxious to provide a link to the page from this site, though if pressed I suppose I'd be willing to email it to anyone who's really desperate. Truthfully, it seemed to me to have alot in common with those dreadful 1950's 'sexploitation" movies - prurient pornography dressed up as public information. But I digress) Various activities were described, and the dreadful results arising from them were detailed with an odd kind of grim pleasure.What disturbed me most was the claim that homosexual men are more likely to be child abusers than heterosexual men are. My understanding was that this was an entirely false claim, but had no statistics or anything to back me up. I've got no idea whether or not my claim was dismissed 'out of hand' or accepted as at least a possibility, but this seemed like a good opportunity to attempt to dispell a widespread myth. Well, maybe not dispell. But at least undermine.

In a Letter to the US Senate in May 2001, no less a body than the American Psychological Association wrote:

"One harmful justification used for discriminating against gay men working with children is the erroneous belief that they pose a particular danger to children. However, all available research data and clinical experience indicate that gay men are no more likely than heterosexual men to sexually abuse children. In addition, psychological research on child-rearing skills of gay and lesbian parents has consistently found that they are as good parents as their heterosexual counterparts and that their children do not differ appreciably from children raised by heterosexuals"

The empirical research does not show that gay or bisexual men are any more likely than heterosexual men to molest children. This is not to argue that homosexual and bisexual men never molest children. But there is no scientific basis for asserting that they are more likely than heterosexual men to do so.

Further, recognizing that individuals and institutions have historically used sexual orientation as a reason to restrict lesbians and gay men from activities relating to delivery of services, care, treatment to children and adolescents, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry finds that there is no evidence that lesbians and gay men, per se, represent any threat to the development of children or adolescents and condemns any restriction on employment or service based on sexual orientation in positions involving the delivery of services or treatment to children and adolescents.

Posted by Jonathan @ 10/26/2003 02:35 AM CST

Thanks for being a voice of reason in the middle of such insanity.

Posted by Jonathan @ 10/25/2003 03:43 PM CST

I too read that page. It seems that sometimes it is easier to demonise a group of people rather than love them.. But, maybe I digress now :)

Posted by phil @ 10/25/2003 04:58 AM CST