Subject: GLAAD vs. NAMBLA -- quotes & comparisons
From: [email-masked] (The Galaxy Being)
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 19:42:50 UTC

With thanks to <[email-masked]>, let's analyse and compare the
positions of GLAAD, ILGA, and NAMBLA.  I'll quote directly from NAMBLA's
_Constitution and Position Papers_ as revised on August 21, 1992.  I'll also
give my comments in brackets as well as the page numbers for those who want to
do further research.

 GLAAD> GLAAD/USA Position Statement Regarding NAMBLA
 GLAAD>
 GLAAD>         The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
 GLAAD> deplores North American Man Boy Love Association's (NAMBLA)
 GLAAD> goals which include advocacy for sex between adult men and
 GLAAD> boys and the removal of legal protections for children.
                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[I think NAMBLA is *not* trying to "remove" anything, please read on...]

 GLAAD>         GLAAD concurs with the 1990 ILGA resolution based on
 GLAAD> the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states,
 GLAAD> "Major power imbalances create the potential for child
 GLAAD> abuse.  ILGA condemns the exploitive use of power
 GLAAD> differences to coerce others into sexual relationships.  All
 GLAAD> children have the right to protection from sexual
 GLAAD> exploitation and abuse."

"NAMBLA _condemns those who exploit children_ and others for profit in
pornography ..."  [p.6, italics theirs.]

[but on the other hand,]

"[NAMBLA] opposes all attempts by the state to interfere with consensual and
non-coercive sexuality..."  [p.7; this is a _broad_ statement: no age limits,
no orientational limits, etc.]

[more anti-abuse stances, not *all* of them, however:]

"NAMBLA condemns and opposes circumcision and clitoridectomies as anti-sexual
assaults on children and their right to the full enjoyment and control of
their own bodies."  [p.9, talk about "abuse", eh?]

"... [NAMBLA calls] for the adoption of laws that both protect children from
unwanted sexual experiences and advances, and at the same time leave them free
to determine the content of their own sexual experience.  Age-of-consent laws
deny children this right ...

[but,]

"LAWS PRESENTLY EXIST IN ALL PROVINCES AND STATES TO PROTECT PEOPLE OF ALL
AGES FROM RAPE, INTIMIDATION, COERCION, AND ABUSE.  Such laws are weakest in
their application to children, in that they fail to adequately empower
children to initiate and sustain legal proceedings against those who mistreat
them.  Much child abuse, both physical and emotional, results from this
anti-child bias in the law, and is perpetrated largely by parents, other
relatives, school and social service personnel, and by the police.  Laws that
are designed to protect people from mistratment should be accordingly
strengthened to protect children equally.  Age-of-consent laws do not
accomplish this, however, as they do not protect children from mistreatment
but rather from sex itself...

"...  Children especially, and all people in general, must be empowered to
have control over all aspects of their lives, so far as the exercise of that
control does not infringe on the rights of others.

"Children in our society are presently denied that control, and are treated in
the law and in fact as virtually THE *PROPERTY* OF THEIR PARENTS AND WARDS OF
THE STATE, TO BE *USED* AS THEIR PARENTS AND THE STATE WISH.  CONSEQUENTLY,
our children are UNACCUSTOMED TO MAKING DECISIONS of importance which affect
themselves and UNACCUSTOMED TO LEARNING FROM THE RESULTS OF SUCH DECISIONS.
Out of THIS unfamiliarity with decision-making ARISES THE BELIEF that children
are incapable of responsibly controlling their own lives.  Children in other
cultures where society ALLOWS them GREATER SELF-DETERMINATION *are* in fact
MORE functional and capable THAN OUR OWN children at the SAME chronological
age.

"Sex education should be made available to children as early AS CHILDREN
*WISH*..."  [p.10, emphases mine in these last few paragraphs to stress the
point properly: just who/what is trying to exploit their power?]

"Young people in our society are denied nearly all the human rights [possessed
by adults], and are presumed to be irrational and incapable.  The policy of
protection toward children growing out of this philosophy assumes that parents
or their state-appointed substitutes can only relate to children from the
standpoint of benevolent domination.

"Children are subject to abuse as a result of this hierarchical relationship.
Their humanity is demeaned and their growth stunted..."  [p.11, going on to
enumerate several "civil rights" which "are inalienable" to kids in
particular, such as:]

"...  Young people are necessary participants in democracy, entitled to the
full benefits of self-governance and to full protection from both the
government's and parents' abuse of power...

"... 1) complete freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, and privacy; 2)
equal protection against discrimination; 3) freedom from involuntary servitude
...; 4) the right to due process; 5) protection from illegal search and
seizure [*ahem* including parents as far as I'm concerned!]; 6) the right of
equal participation in political processes; and 7) the right to serve on
juries."  [p.11-12]

 GLAAD>         Although statistics indicate that the vast majority
 GLAAD> of sexual abuse against children is perpetrated by
 GLAAD> heterosexual men, it is imperative that child abuse, in all
                                                ^^^^^^^^^^^
 GLAAD> forms, be condemned by gay men and lesbians.

[I feel this is a term which NAMBLA is trying to more accurately define.  You
want more quotes?  All found on pages 14-15, all caps/italics theirs:]

"CORPORAL PUNISHMENT [such as 'spanking'] IS CHILD ABUSE...  NAMBLA advocates
[for laws which call] on all adults to use positive, loving, non-threatening
attitudes in relating to, educating, and disciplining others, especially the
young.

"_Kidnapping_ is a crime rooted in the concept of children as property...

"Parents and legally appointed guardians are permitted to force minors in
their care to go to places and stay in places the minor objects to...  In some
countries, governments have ombudspersons who act as children's advocates and
help them escape from unwanted living arrangements.  In a nation officially
opposed to slavery for over 100 years, NAMBLA calls for an end to _de facto_
child slavery in this country, by instituting similar child advocacy
legislation here...

"...  Current legislation treats rape as a sexual act and considers
establishing the use of force as secondary to establishing the occurrence of
so-called 'sexual activities.'  In cases of consensual sexual activity
involving a minor and an adult, age-of-consent legislation is used to totally
ignore the presence or absence of force, threats or coercion.  It equates rape
with all sex.

"Rape is not sex and it is not love.  A person who forces, threatens or
coerces a boy is not a 'boy-lover,' and it is inaccurate to refer to him or
her as such.  The same is true of anyone who kidnaps, exploits or assaults
boys...

"...  NAMBLA CONDEMNS RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT.  Age-of-consent laws, however,
are not 'rape laws for minors,' but are anti-sex legislation designed to
prevent minors from engaging in any type of erotic activity...

"EXPLOITATION, SEXUAL OR OTHERWISE, IS NEITHER APPROVED OF NOR PRACTICED BY
NAMBLA...  NAMBLA recognizes that exploitation occurs in the areas of hustling
and the publication of erotica ...  Exploitation of the young occurs just as
frequently in many other areas, most notably in youth shelters and service
programs ...

"NAMBLA CONDEMNS CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, KIDNAPPING, RAPE AND SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION...  It is grounds for expulsion from NAMBLA..."

[isn't *any* of this sinking in???]

 GLAAD>         As a group of people who historically have not had
 GLAAD> legal rights and protections, gay men and lesbians have
 GLAAD> always work with, and built coalitions with, other whose
 GLAAD> rights are at risk.  The true gay and lesbian agenda is
 GLAAD> ultimately about free human right for all people.

[What about the children?  It seems to me NAMBLA is merely trying to extend
the term "free human rights for all people" *TO* ALL PEOPLE, INCLUDING KIDS.]

 GLAAD>         --Adopted by the GLAAD/USA Board of Directors,
 GLAAD> January 16, 1994, San Diego, CA

[*sigh* GLAAD adopted this apparently without so much as asking NAMBLA for
insight as to its positions, which I think can be summed up thus:]

"The government should stay out of the bedroom.  The attempts to repress and
control sexuality have caused untold harm both to individuals and to society
as a whole."  [p.8]

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The Galaxy Being
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