Actually, I find in the gay right movement is where the differences matter the least. That is to say (as seen in the pedophilia and teaching thread), excluding the issue of gay marriage, many of the things homosexuals are fighting for are the same things I would think pedophiles would also want.
A very good point.
Agreed. I find that comparison infinitely more applicable.As to the comparisons you mention, I find comparing the fight for homosexual marriage similar to the fight for interracial marriage.
Which is kind of my point. In very few cases do these comparisons really hold up. Though you do make a good argument for further similarities between homosexuals and pedophiles in that aside from gay marriage, a pedophile would most likely want the same things.Also, I do compare Obama and Hitler. They were (well, Obama is) great speakers. Besides for that, there is little of comparison that makes sense.
I think one of the reasons the comparison rankles me so much is just that it feels like door-opening for the completely nonsensical comparisons between us. Like that if that stands, then it could lead to the common accusation that all homosexuals are child-molesters. This isn't a rational response, obviously, and it doesn't hold up at all, but I'm not sure how else to explain my general unease with it. I think it's just sort of a... scorch-the-earth style defense mechanism. Because we're compared to child-molesters so often, I get touchy when compared even to pedophiles (often interchanged with child-molesters).
I very much doubt there will ever be a P at the end of the Rainbow Alphabet. I'm not saying it's right necessarily, but there appears to be a general consensus that aligning the community with pedophiles would squander what little political capital we have.
There's also an attitude that it's just not our purview. The case has been made that the LGBTQ covers those that are attracted to the same sex to some degree and those that feel they were born into the wrong sex. The argument goes that to bring in anything else, even pedophilia, would be expanding to include something that doesn't really have anything to do with our community. This argument usually co-eixsts with the belief that it's not our responsibility to help all of the other "deviant sexualities." Their fight is theirs, ours is ours.
There's also the idea of too much too soon. That we should focus on gay rights primarily and then consider what comes next. The idea being that if we go for everything all at once, it'll take us even longer to get anything at all.
To be honest, I'm not sure where I stand on that one. I see the value in seeking better treatment for pedophiles who haven't molested children. But I also understand the points against including them. Neither arguments are without their merit.
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