Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse
by Timothy J. Dailey, Ph.D.
Despite efforts by homosexual activists to distance the gay lifestyle from pedophilia, there remains a disturbing connection between the two. This is because, by definition, male homosexuals are sexually attracted to other males. While many homosexuals may not seek young sexual partners, the evidence indicates that disproportionate numbers of gay men seek adolescent males or boys as sexual partners:
· Pedophiles are invariably males: A report by the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children states: "In both clinical and non-clinical samples, the vast majority of offenders are male."1 The book Sexual Offending Against Children reports that only 12 of 3,000 incarcerated pedophiles in England were women."2
· Significant numbers of victims are males: A study of 457 male sex offenders against children in Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy found that "approximately one-third of these sexual offenders directed their sexual activity against males."3
· Homosexuals comprise less than 3 percent of the population. Relying upon three large data sets: the General Social Survey, the National Health and Social Life Survey, and the U.S. census, a recent study in Demography estimates the number of exclusive male homosexuals in the general population at 2.5 percent, and the number of exclusive lesbians at 1.4 percent.4
· Homosexuals are overrepresented in child sex offenses: Individuals from the 1 to 3 percent of the population that is sexually attracted to the same sex are committing up to one-third of the sex crimes against children. A study in the Journal of Sex Research found that although heterosexuals outnumber homosexuals by a ratio of at least 20 to 1, homosexual pedophiles commit about one-third of the total number of child sex offenses. 5
· Homosexuality and pedophilia are interrelated sexual behaviors: The evidence does not support the argument that, by definition, pedophiles cannot be considered homosexual because they are solely interested in boys:
· Studies show that homosexual males are sexually attracted to underage boys.6 In The Gay Report, by homosexual researchers Karla Jay and Allen Young, the authors report data showing that 73 percent of homosexuals surveyed had at some time had sex with boys sixteen to nineteen years of age or younger."7
· Conversely, studies also show that male homosexual pedophiles are sexually attracted to adult males and engage in sexual relations with adult homosexuals.8
· Studies also show that homosexual pedophiles enter into sexual relationships with women, and that many either were married or had been married at some time.9
· The historical Connection between Pedophilia and the Gay Rights Movement: Homosexual activist, pedophile, and historian of the gay rights movement, David Thorstad, writes: "Boy-lovers were involved in the gay movement from the beginning, and their presence was tolerated. . . . There was a mood of tolerance, even joy at discovering the myriad of lifestyles within the gay and lesbian subculture."10 Pedophile groups were members of the International Lesbian and Gay Association until the mid 1990's, when that association cost ILGA it status as a Non-governmental organization within the United Nations.
· Pedophile Themes Abound in Gay Literature: The late "beat" poet Allen Ginsberg was also a pedophile, whose poetry contained explicit references to man-boy sex.11 Mary Eberstadt, writing in the Weekly Standard, documents how anthologies of gay fiction as well as the Gay Men's Press fiction bestseller list are replete with examples of pedophilic themes.12
Timothy J. Dailey, Ph.D. is Senior Fellow for Culture Studies at the Family Research Council.
Notes
1. John Briere, et al., eds., The APSAC Handbook on Child Maltreatment (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 1996), pp. 52, 53.
2. Dawn Fisher, "Adult Sex Offenders: Who are They? Why and How Do They Do It?" in Tony Morrison, et al., eds., Sexual Offending Against Children (London: Routledge, 1994), p. 11.
3. Kurt Freund, et al., "Pedophilia and Heterosexuality vs. Homosexuality," Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy 10 (1984): 197.
4. Dan Black, et al., "Demographics of the Gay and Lesbian Population in the United States: Evidence from Available Systematic Data Sources," Demography 37 (May 2000): 150.
5. Kurt Freund, et al., "Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, and Erotic Age Preference," p. 107. Cp. Zebulon A. Silverthorne & Vernon L. Quinsey, "Sexual Partner Age Preferences of Homosexual and Heterosexual Men and Women," Archives of Sexual Behavior 29 (February 2000): 67–76.
6. Zebulon A. Silverthorne & Vernon L. Quinsey, "Sexual Partner Age Preferences of Homosexual and Heterosexual Men and Women," p. 70.
7. Karla Jay and Allen Young, The Gay Report: Lesbians and Gay Men Speak Out about Sexual Experiences and Lifestyles (New York: Summit Books, 1979), p. 275
8. W. L. Marshall, et al., "Sexual Offenders against Male Children: Sexual Preferences," p. 383; W. L. Marshall, et al., "Early Onset and Deviant Sexuality in Child Molesters," Journal of Interpersonal Violence 6 (1991): 323-336
9. Elliott, p. 581.
10. Ibid., p. 253.
11. Raymond-Jean Frontain, "The Works of Allen Ginsberg," Journal of Homosexuality 34 (1997).
12. Mary Eberstadt, "'Pedophilia Chic' Reconsidered" The Weekly Standard 6 (January 8, 2001).