This past August, a Baltimore conference was sponsored by B4U-ACT, a group of pro-pedophile mental health professionals and sympathetic activists. Yep, you read that correctly. Their goal is to eliminate pedophilia from the list of mental illnesses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is scheduled to undergo a significant revision by 2013.
According to the conference’s brochure, the event examined “ways in 
which minor-attracted persons [pedophiles] can be involved in the DSM 5 revision process” and how the popular perceptions of pedophiles can be reframed to encourage tolerance.
Minor-attracted persons? Are they nuckin’ futs? These bozos want to encourage tolerance of criminal activity against children?
While doing my research, this whole idea is nothing new. Back in 2003, the American Psychiatric Association sponsored a symposium in San Francisco to discuss the removal of pedophilia from the DSM. Other long-recognized categories of mental illness known as “paraphilias,” included exhibitionism, fetishism, transvestism, voyeurism and sadomasochism.
Back then, Dr. Charles Moser of SF’s Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality and co-author Peggy Kleinplatz of the University of Ottawa presented a paper in which they wrote, “the situation of the paraphilias at present parallels that of homosexuality in the early 1970s. Without the support of political astuteness of those who fought for the removal of homosexuality, the paraphilias continue to be listed in the DSM.”
I don’t know how anyone can make a comparison between homosexuality and pedophilia. Quite honestly, I really don’t want to visualize any sexual activity between men and women, men and men or women and women. But as far as that goes, that activity is presumably between consenting adults.
Homosexuality may have been removed from the DSM and may have been decriminalized but it has not been completely accepted by mainstream America. If it was, there’d be no reason for some people to remain “in the closet,” yet plenty do. At best, homosexuality is tolerated.
On the other hand, pedophiles are predators of children, who are unable to consent to anything. Children are simply prey. There’s no comparison.
Child advocate Dr. Judith Reisman, a visiting professor at Liberty University’s School of Law, said the August conference was part of a strategy to condition people into accepting pedophiles. In other words, the intent is for all of us to stop thinking that these people are the worst of the worst criminals but empathize and see their behavior as merely reflecting their emotional state.
Dr. Reisman believes that declassification of pedophilia as a mental illness could result in the repeal of child-protection statutes because, in her opinion, the law always follows the input of psychiatry. I’d like to think that’s not going to happen.
We’ll have to wait and see how the powers that be will revise the DSM in 2013. I doubt whether child advocates will be silenced from protecting the vulnerable in our society and I’m going to guess that legislators will think hard and long before de-criminalizing the sexual abuse of children.
Dr. Richard Kramer, B4U-ACT direction of operations, wrote in 2009 on the website ReformSexOffenderLaws.org, “What purpose does calling someone a ‘pervert’ or ‘predator’ serve anyway… How is this productive? It certainly doesn’t protect children…. Stop demonizing a whole class of people and start learning the facts.” What a crock. 
Well, I have no problem whatsoever demonizing a whole class of people. I’ve read books, seen movies and heard stories about how pedophiles are treated in prison. There’s a hierarchy of evil in prison. When even those who’ve murdered and eaten their own parents consider pedophiles the scum of the earth and make each and every day of their lives behind bars a living hell, I say good for them! I have to believe that civilized society, will continue to protect the innocents.
I don’t get, nor do I ever want to understand “minor-attracted persons”, but if you do, God help you.
