Welcome to Our Premier Issue

What Is Boylove?

Shame, Fear, Love, and the Gospel
"It is wrong for me to exist."

When Two Worlds Collide
"The two worlds had never before met.  What would happen?  Would both come crashing down?"

Growing Together
"I have seen him grow from a shy, reclusive pre-adolecent, probably still full of pain, into a young man of great respect..."

We Need Each Other
"...it has quite a confusing and frustrating impact on us as Christians."

Burning Coals
"There are two great dangers in being persecuted."

On-line resources

Paraklesis is a quarterly publication of the Christian Boylove Forum (CBF).  Its purpose is to provide mutual support and encouragement for Christian boylovers, to discuss ethical, spiritual, and emotional issues surrounding boylove, to encourage responsible behavior, and to promote dialog and understanding. 

Paraklesis is available in print form.  Subscriptions can be obtained free of charge by sending an email to paraklesis@cblf.org.  Letters to the editor and other items may be submitted for publication at the same address.  Please see the article at right for submission guidelines.

Permission is granted to freely copy and distribute this publication for non-commercial purposes as long as the copyright notice below is included.

Editor:  Mark Distefano

Paraklesis is the ancient Greek word for "encouragement."  Having been derived from kaleo, which means "to summon," and para, which means "along side," the word has also been translated as comfort, cheer, rejoicing, and exhortation.  These are all things that we hope this new publication will provide for Christian boylovers.  We need to walk along side and encourage each other in our spiritual and emotional journeys--to seek the will of God in our lives, to accept ourselves as among God's beloved people, to discern how best to promote the well-being of the boys whose lives we touch, and to be role-models to one another.

We know that various sites on the web already accomplish some of these purposes, but not in one place, and not from a uniquely Christian perspective.  In addition, there is something different about having such a publication in print.  It is a sort of "coming out" for us--coming out of cyberspace into the "real world" of the print media.

We need submissions from both boylovers and non-boylovers.  We welcome participation by pastors, therapists, researchers, and anyone else who wishes to support boylovers in their efforts to live responsibly.  This brings us to the secondary purpose of Paraklesis:  to promote dialog, understanding, and trust between boylovers and non-boylovers. 

In the northwestern U.S., a unique coalition of community groups who were former adversaries was recently formed.  Called the Applegate Partnership, the organization has as its motto "Practice trust, them is us."  Members acknowledge the need to overcome barriers caused by the use of "we" and "they" language.  No one knows how many boylovers there are out there, but we know that most live and work among people who would never dream that their close friends and colleagues are boylovers.  For non-boylovers, in a very real way, "them is us."

Our vision is that boylovers will one day not have to hide--that we will be able to openly discuss our concerns, difficulties, and joys with each other and with pastors and mental health professionals; that we will develop a shared ethical and moral framework; that boylovers and non-boylovers will learn from each other and break down barriers of hostility and suspicion, and that we will be accepted by and integrated into society.  We hope this process can begin with the publication of Paraklesis.  We are excited about the possibilities!

We don't know how successful this endeavor will be.  We can't predict how many people will subscribe, or how many submissions we'll get.  Your help can make a big difference.  Please spread the word to all the boylovers and their supporters you know, as well as anyone who would be open to learning.  Give them a copy of Paraklesis and ask them if they would be interested in submitting something.  We'd like to make this a bi-monthly publication if possible.

There will not be much of a regular staff for this publication, so we rely on you, our readers.  Submissions can be sent by anonymous email if you wish.  We are looking for the following types of items:

• Bible study/inspirational articles of interest to boylovers
• Discussion of ethical issues related to boylove and its place in society
• Discussion of current scientific knowledge regarding sexuality and orientation, especially as it pertains to boylove
• Advice to those in man-boy relationships to insure that they are healthy
• Reviews of books relevant to boylove
• Personal stories of coming out, spiritual growth, emotional health, or relationships with boys
• Personal stories of boylovers' friends, family members, or supporters 
• Stories of reconciliation and development of trust between boylovers and non-boylovers
• News of interest to boylovers
• Creative writing such as poetry
• Descriptions of resources for boylovers
• Letters to the editor

A subscription to Paraklesis will be free, and distribution will be done by first class mail through boylovers and their supporters who trust each other enough to exchange snail-mail addresses.  For those who haven't yet reached that point, this web version is available.  We hope you will participate as you are able!

--Mark Distefano, editor of Paraklesis