Captain Obvious: Penn State Scandal Has Nothing to do with "The Gays"

When there is a pedophile scandal involving boys, gay people wince, for multiple reasons. Chief among them is the horror imposed on the little boys, against their will. Secondarily--and quite a bit down the concern meter, but still wrenching--is the false equivalence drawn by many (usually, conservatives) between pedophilia and homosexuality.
 
If you have any interest, you can find copious confirmation that some strong conservatives draw a parallel between teh gay and kid diddlers. Just go to FreeRepublic.com, and go to the ridiculously named "Homosexual Agenda" section. You'll find that the hardcore tea bagger crowd draws no distinction.  But there is one.

If you found out that there was a coach who molested a bunch of little girls, you wouldn't immediately jump to the conclusion that there was a heterosexual problem. But when it is a coach and boys? Many minds go there. Even when there is no scandal to use as a touchstone, many conservative minds go there. "Gays can't reproduce, so they recruit," they'll say. Uhhhmmmm, no. Not necessary. Plenty of gays to go around. Most gays were molested, they'll say. But, then they'll also claim that lesbians were molested by men. So, which is it?

Most troubling with the uber-conservative equivalence between pedophilia and homosexuality, is the blindness to force vs. consent. If you dare read the commentary at conservative sites, you'd have to believe that gay people do not see that distinction. When in fact, it is more likely for sexual harassment and abuse claims to be leveled at heterosexuals.


Pedophilia, whether performed by ostensibly straights or gays is a vicious, nasty crime, performed against kids against their will. Pedophilia is not a sexual orientation. It is a sexual pathology. Performing sexual acts against minors (who are unable to legally give consent) or others against their will is always wrong. There is no evidence that pedophilia is any more prevalent amongst heterosexuals or homosexuals. In fact, I think it is--and should be--insulting toward gays or straights to claim that either is more likely to molest a child. I believe that molesters belong in their own category, and I believe they've got what's coming to them.

I'm insulted by the fact that the FreeRepublic site puts all of the Penn State stories under the banner of "Homosexual Agenda." But I'm not surprised. FR is a knee-jerk site, with very little thought, and a whole lot of emotion. From the whole Penn State story, I am of course most upset by the lives that have been damaged. But I'm also really pissed off that a bunch of knuckle-draggers are going to blame this on people like me.