Confronting the Gorgon of Paedophilia - a Gay Man Reflects

Paedophilia is an issue whose social aspect today is as feared as the mythical snake-haired Medusa, with the same ability to turn reason and compassion to stone. It is overwhelmingly a heterosexual problem, though sometimes seen by the ill-informed as a gay one. Having said that, LGBT people may profitably reflect on the matter from their own special vantage point.
 
A little research shows how neglected the subject has been, relegated even in academic psychiatric publications to brief chapters, thus suggesting fears even on the part of the medical profession of being seen to take undue interest in a highly taboo topic.
 
In recent times, newspaper reports of child molestation spanning several decades in the UK, involving so-called care homes, Catholic priests, female nursery staff, and even paediatricians, have raised awareness of paedophilia and its baleful influence. Recent news from Dublin has highlighted how The Sisters of Mercy, a leading Catholic order of nuns, has made an offer of £116 million in compensation to its child abuse victims. Seventeen other groups were exposed alongside them in Dublin, while another, The Christian Brothers, has offered £146 million for many children abused by that order of priests. The increased incidence of children abused by women has been a revelation of the past few months.
 
Public reaction to these cases can become so heated and hostile that innocent individuals , mistaken as paedophiles, have been murdered. As a gay man, I have been appalled by scenes of baying mobs with placards surrounding a known paedophile’s house demanding their removal, which merely shifts the potential danger to some other area. Scenes such as this conjure up Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster driven by villagers to the top of a burning windmill.
 
As LGBT people we may reflect uncomfortably that if our behaviour and sexual inclinations feel natural to us, by which token we justify them, might not those of these wretched outcasts feel natural to them too? Looking at the evidence, I can only hope and believe that paedophiles realise that their inclinations are unnatural and wrongly directed, but as in so many other states of addiction, cannot help themselves. This, however, does not excuse our paucity of understanding, our lack of compassion, or lack of desire to help them attain a better way of life.

 
A sensitive cinematic portrayal of paedophilia can be found in The Woodsman (2004) with Kevin Bacon playing the part of a man who tries to remake his life afer a twelve-year prison term. The story culminates in him talking to an underage girl, who befriends and trusts him, with the strong inclination to sexually abuse her. His desires are cut short when she suddenly  reveals that her father is already abusing her. The shock, like beholding the gorgon’s face in a mirror, stops Bacon in his tracks. The film cannot offer any resolution, but at least it offers hope.

By John Hartley

(c) Copyright 2009.  All rights reserved.

David’s note: I’d like to thank John for this blog.  In my opinion John is being very brave in blogging about a subject like paedophilia because of the strong reactions it provokes in us.  However, he is right in saying that as LGBT people we do have a special vantage point, and it is worth remembering the double tragedy of paedophilia - not only is it the children who are the tragic victims, but also to a lesser extent so are the paedophiles themselves - presumably they cannot help being sexually attracted to children, and whilst it is imperative they must control their behaviour, their inner desires must be much harder to control.

What do you think about this subject?  Please feel free to give your own opinions below: