A recent headline sent shock waves across the nation a couple weeks ago when people read: “Pedophilia Officially Classified as Sexual Orientation by American Psychiatric Association”?

The headlines grabbed attention and caused a buzz across the blogosphere and social media. Many of the sites carrying the article later updated their posts after the source citing the change to the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) could not verify their research. Whoops.

For now it seems apparent that things have not changed. But this does not mean this subject should be ignored or pushed under the rug. It seems many people do that with pedophilia, which is understandable considering the particularly heinous nature of this sexual mental disorder. The reality is that only by facing the topic can we steer the discussion towards defending the victims, the children, rather than approval for the predators.

I found myself engaged in lengthy discussions on social media with folks who were both startled and angry that pedophiles could find approval among any part of civilized society. One commenter during my discussion asked “what will this mean in the legal system?” To which I responded:

“Right now Child Protective Services (CPS) intervenes when there is evidence of abuse such as pedophilia. If pedophilia is no longer a mental illness but now just a sexual orientation, how can they intervene? They will be accused of discrimination. So where is the protection for those kids? It also means that in custody disputes a child could actually be placed with a pedophile predator because his “sexual orientation” cannot be counted against him.”

One person pondered whether I was guilty of “fear-mongering” by posting this when there was no solid evidence to confirm it. Fair enough. Except I don’t think it is fear mongering to sound an alarm to the danger that is clearly before us. The issue of pedophilia is not slowing down or losing steam, it is finding momentum in the victories in the legal courts and the court of public opinion. Just look at some recent headlines:

“Ok to Talk Dirty to Minors Texas Court Rules”

“Planned Parenthood Affiliate Criticized for Supporting Pedophilia”

“Experts: Pedophiles in Hollywood even bigger problem…”

That was just a few headlines from last week. The idea that pedophilia is not a problem and will somehow go away if we close our eyes or make a disgusted face at it is absurd.

In my conversations I was asked if I believed legalizing pedophilia was the next logical step because pedophilia and homosexuality were somehow linked; or, if all homosexuals were somehow pedophiles and vice versa. The answer is no. My reasoning for believing pedophilia is the next logical step has nothing to do with homosexuality but with the use of “sexual orientation” as a justification. The APA at one time classified homosexuality in the same way they did pedophilia. Pressure from homosexuals led them to declassify it from a disorder status and give it simply the sexual orientation status. This was the push needed to allow homosexuals to begin winning public support and legal victories.

As world renowned expert Dr. Judith Reisman points out, the same tactics used by homosexuals are now being used by pedophiles:

“…the same strategy was used by homosexual activists in the 1970s when same-sex attractions were removed from the APA’s list of disorders. Eventually, the legalization of ‘gay marriage,’ the mandatory homosexuality lessons in public schools and the policy of allowing open homosexuality in the U.S. military resulted.”

Once classified as a sexual orientation, pedophilia will be given all the same rights as homosexuals, including legal status for their relationships, and rights to engage in those relationships which will result in decriminalization. We might think such a thought ludicrous, and yet 40 years ago no one thought homosexuals would be where they are today. The slow progress is under way and will continue. Efforts to gain public support and approval will lead to emotional narratives of pedophiles that “just want to love” the way others do. This is logical because it is what homosexuals did, and are doing, and it worked so why wouldn’t pedophiles do the same?

But my question is this: if marriage is redefined for homosexuals, what ground would the government have to limit marriage for any other group: polygamists, polyamorists, and pedophiles? If they are all just sexual orientations mustn’t they be given the same rights? If the government does not continue to redefine marriage for other groups, isn’t it guilty of the same discrimination it now accuses traditional marriage advocates of?

Some might reply that pedophilia won’t be legalized in order to protect kids. I say that is naive at best. We’ve already decided children don’t need a mother and a father, just one or the other. And our government will soon decide that having several moms and dads (polygamy etc.) is even better. So why not allow a child to have a parent-lover? It sounds sickening to us now, but the effort is underway to make it more appealing to the public. Once we remove the inherent moral qualities of marriage: one man, one woman, we remove any transcendent, objective criteria for limiting marriage. At that point the government, or anyone else, has no legitimate claim to limit marriage because if it is not inherently between a man and woman no other objective criteria can be applied. So two moms, three dads and a mom, a mom and dad-lover, it’s all on the table.