Homosexuality and Pedophilia - Is There a Connection?

Some 4,000 years ago, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were famous for depravity. Pedophilia was apparently among the region's many vices. Genesis 19:4 describes a sex-crazed mob of Sodomites ranging "from boy to old man" seeking to rape Lot's two male guests. Consider: Why would mere boys be inflamed with the idea of raping males? Clearly they had already been introduced to homosexual perversions. - "Awake" 10/8/93 p3

In recent times, the Roman Catholic Church has been rocked by scandal within its priesthood due to incident after incident of child molestation being brought to light as more and more victims of pedophilia step forward. When the Vatican made it's first public statement about the scandal, the Pope's chief spokesman told the New York Times in March 2002 that the church needs to prevent gays from entering the priesthood. With this statement, the Vatican perpetuated the myth that homosexuality and pedophilia are somehow interconnected. But is this really so? The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (parent corporation and publisher of all Jehovah's Witness literature) seems to think so. The following are actual quotes from Watchtower literature:

"Then again, a young boy may get started in homosexuality by being seduced by homosexual men. There was a glaring example of this in Vancouver, Canada, where some homosexuals seduced thirty-five young boys between the ages of ten and fourteen and then made traffic out of them." - "The Watchtower" 5/15/70 p314

"Shocking as it is, even some who have been prominent in Jehovah's organization have succumbed to immoral practices, including homosexuality, wife swapping, and child molesting." - "The Watchtower" 1/1/86 p12

"History does not make clear how prevalent homosexuality was among the Romans. No doubt, though, they were influenced by their Greek predecessors, among whom it was widely practiced. It was customary for older men to corrupt young boys, taking them under their wing in a student-teacher relationship that often steered the youngsters into deviant sexual behavior. Undoubtedly, Satan and his demons were behind such vice and mistreatment of children." - "The Watchtower" 7/15/97 pg.10

Long before pedophilia in the priesthood came under the scrutiny of the news media as intensely as it has in recent times, Jehovah's Witnesses recognized this activity within the Catholic Church and used it to scandalize the church in an attempt to prove that the Catholic Church is the "Whore of Babylon" mentioned in the book of Revelation, as the Watchtower has preached for decades. Unfortunately, Jehovah's Witnesses also utilized this as an opportunity to equate pedophilia with homosexuality, as the following three passages from "Awake" magazine reveal:

"During the synod, Higton had presented a sensational dossier of evidence against the homosexual clergy. One was convicted of child molesting but was merely moved to another parish. Another priest, convicted of gross indecency in a public toilet, was appointed to another diocese, where he was convicted of a similar offense-still not defrocked. Homosexual Anglican priests in London, Higton reported, ran a church bookstall for 'selling literature alleged to encourage homosexual promiscuity, the use of male prostitutes, and a variety of homosexual acts.' One book in the stall allegedly showed 'a five-year-old girl in bed with her father and his male lover.'" - "Awake" 1/22/89 p8

"HOMOSEXUAL CLERGY - 'Church leadership is tolerating a double standard on celibacy and, because of stupidity and cowardice, permitting the priesthood to become substantially, perhaps in due course mostly, gay,' says Greeley. While acknowledging that 'many priests, bishops, popes and even saints in ages past have probably been more homosexual than heterosexual in their orientation,' he believes that current ecclesiastical policy toward the sexuality of priests is causing the clergy to become predominantly homosexual, damaging even more 'the already tarnished image of the priesthood.' Greeley adds: 'It appears that many homosexual priests ordained in the past two decades are sexually active and that some of them are also pedophiles [prefer children as sex objects].'" - "Awake" 3/22/90 p29

"Since 1985, scores of pedophilia cases involving priests or brothers have been recorded throughout America and Canada. These changes have arrived amid a number of reports that as many as 10 to 20 percent of U.S. priests may be homosexually active." - "Awake" 12/8/90 p31

What, then, of secular organizations? How do other groups view the association between homosexuals and pedophiles? Do they believe they are one and the same? The Boy Scouts of America seem to think so. They have banned homosexuals from any participation in their organization, believing homosexuals in their midst will place teen and pre-teen members at high risk of molestation. On the "Eagle Scout Rally for Family Foundation" web site, it states: "In fact, a study sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health has shown that men who have sex with men exhibit a high propensity to molest young boys." (Author's Note: A complete search of the NIMH website yielded no mention whatsoever of any such study, and we believe this statement to be inaccurate.)Another organization, the Family Research Council, had this to say about homosexuality and pedophilia: "The media have tried to insist that pedophilia and homosexuality are different phenomena. Gays have slowly crept into the clergy, bringing with them a propensity toward pedophilia and homosexuality." Is there any legitimacy to this statement? Upon further examination, one finds that the Family Research Council is a virulently homophobic organization, with a strong anti-homosexual agenda. The reliability of statements made by such an organization are questionable.

There are, however, more reliable sources in this area of study. The following are statements made by noted professionals in the field of research and study of pedophilia:

"Mental health professionals agree that pedophilia should never be considered normal, because it is truly a disease. None of the things that make homosexuality a normal variation of human sexuality apply to pedophilia." - Martin Downs, WebMD Medical News

"There is no medical evidence to suggest an association between homosexuality and impaired moral judgment." - Journal of the American Medical Association - Pediatric Forum, March 2001

"It is ludicrous to identify pedophiles as homosexuals." - Stan Robson, Chief Deputy, Benton County Sheriffs Department
(In over 14 years of Robson's work with pedophiles, 498 out of 500 offenders identified themselves as heterosexual.)

"The vast majority of offenders are heterosexual men. Male offenders who abuse young boys maintain adult heterosexual relationships. The habitual molester of boys is rarely attracted to adult males." - Roland Summit, M.D. Head Physician, Community Consultation Service, Harbor UCLA Medical Center.

"The belief that homosexuals are particularly attracted to children is completely unsupported by our data. The child offenders who engaged in adult relationships as well, were heterosexuals. There were no homosexual adult oriented offenders in our samples who turned to children." - A. Nicholas Groth, Ph.D., Director of the Sex Offender Program, Connecticut Department of Corrections, and Co-Director of the St. Joseph College Institute for the Treatment and Control of Child Sexual Abuse

Additionally, in their article entitled "Facts About Homosexuality and Child Molestation", the U.C. Davis Psychology Department concludes:

"The empirical research does not show that gay or bisexual men are any more likely than heterosexual men to molest children. This is not to argue that homosexual and bisexual men never molest children. But there is no scientific basis for asserting that they are more likely than heterosexual men to do so. And, as explained above, many child molesters cannot be characterized as having an adult sexual orientation at all; they are fixated on children."

The above statements from experts in the field speak volumes about the inaccurate and misleading statements made by the Watchtower Society, as well as other religious and secular organizations, trying to equate homosexuals with pedophiles. In fact, one need look no farther than one's own dictionary to discover the difference between the two:

ped·o·phil·i·a - n.: a mental disorder which belongs to a larger group known as the paraphilias. In pedophilia, carnal lust is disconnected from adult "romantic love."

ped·o·phile - n: an adult who actively fantasizes about, or engages in sexual activities with prepubescent children.

ho·mo·sex·u·al·i·ty - n.: a sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the same sex.

ho·mo·sex·u·al - adj.: Of, relating to, or having a sexual orientation to persons of the same sex.

Note that pedophilia is characterized by mental illness, while no mention of psychological disturbance is made in the dictionary definition of the homosexual. As noted above, the vast majority of pedophiles who molest children of the same sex are either actively involved in adult heterosexual relationships, or are incapable of adult sexual relationships of any sort. This is not to say that there are no pedophiles who are homosexual. However, to make the blanket statement that all homosexuals have a propensity towards pedophilia is false, misleading, and damaging to the gay community. The fact that homosexuality has nothing whatsoever to do with pedophilia was also recognized in the U.S. Federal Court system. In the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, in the case of Equality Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, Inc. vs. City of Cincinnati, a bench trial was held where the judge made the following findings:

• Sexual orientation is a characteristic which exists separately and independently from sexual conduct or behavior.
• Sexual orientation bears no relation to an individual's ability to perform, contribute to, or participate in, society.
• There is no correlation between homosexuality and pedophilia. Homosexuality is not indicative of a tendency towards child molestation.
• Homosexuality is not a mental illness.

It is our hope that those reading this essay will develop a better understanding of the fact that most gay men and lesbians are fully capable of long-term same-sex loving relationships, and are not the sexual predators we have been mistakenly pictured as for so long.

The issue of pedophiles living within, and being protected by, the Jehovah's Witness religion has now gained international media coverage. Programs such as NBC's Dateline and BBC's Panorama have broadcast well-researched and accurate exposés on this topic. "A Common Bond" fully endorses and supports the "Silentlambs" organization for abused current and former Jehovah's Witnesses, and encourages anyone who has been the victim of molestation to visit their web site at: http://www.silentlambs.org/ for support, encouragement, and assistance. If a civil suit is being considered, note that many U.S. states have statutes of limitations on such cases. The law firm of Love & Norris is representing victims of sexual abuse in Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations, with expectations of forcing change in the Watchtower Society’s sexual abuse policy. (The link to this firm is provided for informational purposes only.) Certainly, we would strongly encourage abuse victims to contact local law enforcement authorities and report any such activity.

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