Now that the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision has made same-sex marriage legal in every state in America, some, like Allen West and Don Zimmerman, believe that the same legal logic could be used to apply to pedophiles. Although both men have been attacked on social media for these comments, it turns out that some university academics have already begun arguing that the sexual preferences of pedophiles are “normal.”
In a related report by the Inquisitr , a county in Texas has denied a gay marriage license even after SCOTUS announced its decision.
Writers for Allen West’s website claim SCOTUS has put the United States on a “slippery slope” and cites an article from 2011 which claimed that pedophiles were making the same arguments as the marriage equality movement.
“Using the same tactics used by gay rights activists, pedophiles have begun to seek similar status arguing their desire for children is a sexual orientation no different than heterosexual or homosexuals. Critics of the homosexual lifestyle have long claimed that once it became acceptable to identify homosexuality as simply an ‘alternative lifestyle’ or sexual orientation, logically nothing would be off limits. Gay advocates have taken offense at such a position insisting this would never happen. However, psychiatrists are now beginning to advocate redefining pedophilia in the same way homosexuality was redefined several years ago.”
Based upon this premise, West’s website argues that “there’s actually a constitutional argument that can be made in its favor” and “claims the ruling on same sex marriage has many unintended consequences.” Austin City Council Member Don Zimmerman apparently agrees with this assessment based upon comments left on social media.
Austin Councilman Don Zimmerman is using “pedophilia” comparison for gay Marriage. Get Popcorn ready for Monday AM! pic.twitter.com/UoQHROC6sq
— Dale Dudley (@DaleDudley) June 26, 2015
This comparison has even been made by Minnesota Vikings cornerback Josh Robinson , who tweeted on the subject.
“Love is love? So what will we say when the 30 year old loves your 10 year old? When the dad loves his 6 year old? It’s different?” wrote Robinson. “The day one person makes that stand, some may support, but many will say that’s sick. That day I will say hypocrites.”
A conference at the University of Cambridge discussed this very issue in recent times. The basis for the debate discussed whether the American Psychiatric Association (APA) should include hebephilia (the sexual preference for children ages 11 to 14) in the DSM, a standard international psychiatric manual used by the police and courts.
While this idea was shot down, Ray Blanchard, professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto, claimed that if the APA did not include hebephilia in the DSM then their decision was “tantamount to stating that the APA’s official position is that the sexual preference for early pubertal children is normal.” Philip Tromovitch, a professor at Doshisha University in Japan, took this idea a step further and outright claimed that the “prevalence of pedophilia” proved that the “majority of men are probably pedophiles and hebephiles .”
“Paedophilic interest is natural and normal for human males,” claimed Tromovitch’s presentation, according to The Telegraph . “At least a sizeable minority of normal males would like to have sex with children … Normal males are aroused by children.”
However, Ray Blanchard, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, claims these ideas cannot be supported.
“Saying all men are hebephiles or all men are pedophiles is a profoundly misleading and untrue statement,” he told IBTimes UK . “[S]aying that normal men respond at some microscopic level to physically immature physique, is not the same thing as saying normal men prefer the immature physique.”
What do you think about the comments made by Allen West and Don Zimmerman?
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