The state of boylove in Britain

I just returned from a trip to Britain; while there, I had a chance to talk with two nonpedophiles about boylove. One was the editor of an ecumenical news service. We talked about last summer's vigilante violence against sex offenders or suspected sex offenders, and our conversation deepened the impression I'd already received, that minor-attracted adults are an everyday topic of conversation in Britain, unlike in the U.S. I also received this impression from the British newspapers, which ran articles on that topic practically every day that I was there. The second person I talked with was an evangelical Anglican priest; much to my surprise, he quizzed me at length on boylove. To give a sense of what the conversation was like: we talked about boylove for over an hour, and the word "abuse" never passed the priest's lips. This was not because he was unconcerned about the possibility of abuse occurring; rather, it was because he wished to understand boylovers' perspectives, and he therefore adopted the vocabulary I was using, since he rightly assumed that reflected the boylovers' own vocabulary (as far as I'm knowledgeable in it). The result was the most indepth conversation on boylove that I've ever held with someone from outside these boards. A couple of examples of the questions the priest asked: "Do boylovers consider 'pedophile' to be a socially constructed category in the same way that some gays consider 'homosexual' to be a socially constructed category?" "Many gays have argued that the gay community has contributed to society a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the value of same-sex friendships. Do boylovers feel that they have a similar contribution to make to society?" I know that all of us here grow discouraged at times at how few people outside these boards are interested in discussing the issues facing boylovers – in particular, in discussing society's responsibility toward boylovers. Yet here are two people who know about boylove only by the accident of knowing me, and who are interested in learning more. There must be many more nonpedophiles out there who are like them. Heather [E-mail]   [Home Page]