In May, TEDx speaker Mirjam Heine, a medical student at the University of Wurzburg in Germany, caused a stir with her short talk on “why our perception of pedophilia has to change.”
Her TEDx talk highlighted the life of a University of Munich student, Jonas, who is sexually attracted to girls aged six through 12 years old. Heine stated that “since he’s aware of the consequences for the children, he has never given in to his sexual drive.” Heine attempted to secure her credibility by citing the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems regarding pedophilia, which states that pedophilia is the “sexual preference for adolescent children.”
There has since been an uproar, specifically on social media, not only for Heine advocating for the acceptance of pedophilia as a sexual orientation but because of the term “preference”. However, Heine isn’t only advocating for the acceptance of this “sexual orientation,” but Heine and others believe that pedophilia should fall under the umbrella of the LGBT+ community. The reason the TEDx talk is so important in understanding this issue is that it was the first time a seemingly credible source had shown such interest in explaining this taboo topic.
Maxwell Pearson, a gay student at MTSU and the president of MT Lambda, the all-inclusive LGBT+ organization at MTSU, has been disgusted by this topic since he first read about it.
“Before the LGBT+ community really started making progress, gay men were all basically considered pedophiles,” Pearson said. “This type propaganda is what opponents of LGBT+ rights used to keep the community from being normalized. The community has made significant strides, and pedophiles aligning themselves with the community could definitely cause regression.”
Pearson first heard about this rise in “awareness” of pedophilia as a sexual orientation on Tumblr, and the same can be seen on other social media platforms.
Twitter user Clive Martin, whose account has been suspended because of his pro-pedoseuxal posts, posted a image of the “new” symbol for pedophilia on Twitter in April 2017, and it gained major attention.
One of the biggest concerns over this issue is the act of abusing children. Heine made it clear throughout her TEDx talk that abusing children is wrong. However, how can one advocate for pedophilia when it is the abuse of children? Her argument is that pedophilia is an “unchangeable sexual orientation,” but, the “orientation” solely is the abuse of children unless said pedophile never acts on his/her sexual desires. Pearson felt strongly about this specific aspect of the argument. As aforementioned, this section of the TEDx talk was full of contradictory statements, and Heine’s credibility was, thus, doubted immediately.
“Pedophilia is incredibly disgusting,” Pearson said. “Children cannot offer consent, nor are most able to comprehend the gravity of the situation and are therefore taken advantage of and raped. I feel very disgusted, sad and worried about the movement to align pedophilia with the community. Pedophilia is so horrible, and the push to have it classified as a sexual orientation will only work to hurt the LGBT+ community.”
Kaley Rust, another Lambda member and MTSU freshman, expressed similar disgust.
“It gives homophobes an excuse to hate LGBTQ+,” Rust said. “Trust me, my mom’s side of the family is Amish and Mennonite. They will look for any excuse to hate LGBTQ people if you give it to them. It sickens me.”
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