I don't believe that the pedophile faction within the gay population is any larger than that within the straight population.
Yes, we do part company on this issue. As I have said before, while "pedophilia" is a convenient label that I myself use, it does not truly describe the priest scandal, as most of the victims were not pre-pubescent children, but rather young teenage boys. Statistics on this type of child abuse are hard to come by. However, some clues can come from studies that show that homosexual men have a proclivity to be much more promiscuous than their straight counterparts. For example, there is this:
Many homosexuals had multiple sexual partners in the pre-AIDS era: a 1969 survey found that more than 40
percent of white homosexual males and one-third of black homosexual males had at least 500 partners in
their lifetime, and an additional one-fourth reported between 100 and 500 partners (Bell and Weinberg, 1978).
A majority of these men reported that more than half their partners had been strangers before the sexual
encounters (Bell and Weinberg, 1978). Further evidence of extensive homosexual behavior in the years
preceding the AIDS epidemic comes from reports of numerous cases of rectal gonorrheal and anal herpes
simplex virus infections among men (Jefferiss, 1956; Scott and Stone, 1966; Pariser and Marino, 1970; Owen
and Hill, 1972; British Cooperative Clinical Group, 1973; Jacobs, 1976; Judson et al., 1977; Merino and
Richards, 1977; McMillan and Young, 1978).
This comes from a 1995 report by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, not likely to be a biased source: aegis.com
There is likelihood that in the post-AIDS era these statistics would be lower, due to fear and caution. But there is not much likelihood that tendencies and proclivities among gay men would be any less now than they were then.
It is all well and good to wish to portray the gay male community as made up of loving, monogamous male couples ... but appalling numbers such as the above clearly belie that image.
BTW, I do not believe that any similar patterns or tendencies would be found among lesbians. I am of the strong opinion that this tendency toward promiscuity and extensive stranger-sex is confined to the gay MALE population.
And I do agree with you (heartily!) that the unfolding priest sex scandal will diminish respect for the gay male community before it is over.
JC |
