Gay Men and Child Molestation: Myth or Fact?
Sunday July 9, 2006
Are gay men more likely to molest children? General public perception is that child molestation is directly linked to homosexuality. Perhaps it's because many continue to falsely associate homosexuality exclusively with sexual behavior and thus believe children are not safe around gay men. This misguided perception has led to widespread opposition to gay teachers, religious leaders and day care providers among others.
But is the link between gays and pedophilia fact or myth?
Adoption expert, Carrie Craft cites the Child Welfare Information Gateway (previously National Adoption Information Clearinghouse) as stating, "A child's risk of being molested by his or her relatives' heterosexual partner is over one hundred times greater than by someone who might be identifiable as being homosexual." The study also found that of 269 cases of child sex abuse, only two offenders where found to be gay or lesbian. The American Psychological Association agrees, "Another myth about homosexuality is the mistaken belief that gay men have more of a tendency than heterosexual men to sexually molest children. There is no evidence to suggest that homosexuals molest children."
According to these reputable studies, gay men are actually less likely to molest children. So, will these myth-busters change general perception?
Image courtesy of Liensal.
Comments
Unfortunately, the answer is no. These are by and large folks who don’t pay attention to facts–and for every 100 credible studies that portray lesbians and gay men as decent human beings, they will be able to dig up or fabricate a crooked Paul Cameron style study to fling around. One can only hope that their bigotry, like the racial bigotry of previous generations, becomes less overt and less socially acceptable over time.
Cheers,
TH
Having been a parent since my child’s birth AND a gay man, I’m happy to say that she is a healthy and inteligent 11 year old that KNOWS she is being raised by two dads and has NEVER shown any negitive feelings abount having been raised by gay parents. So what I have to say to all those out there who don’t believe it can be done is, “Believe it! It IS being done!”
i am not a gay man, i am a lesbian, but i have a direct example of how this belief is upheld in many areas of our lives-specifically the court system.
i raised a child of a friend of mine along with my three children. when she was 20, the father of her child decided to sue for complete custody at the “urging” of his mother. in the petition it was mentioned that she lived with a lesbian. it was also noted that we were NOT in a relationship, that i was her parent. in the court proceedings, the judge said, and i quote, “it is common knowledge that pedophilia and homosexuality go hand and hand.”
the bottom line, marie lost custody and it actually says in the custody papers that i am allowed no contact with amy at any time whatsoever. i raised her mother, i was the reason marie did not get an abortion, and i was the one who paid for everything for her birth and raising, and loved her like she was my own.
i am a gay man and i believe those who think sick things have sick minds. these people are obviously ignorant, and probably molesters themselves and try to shove it off on homosexuals to try to hide themselves.they obviously do not understand that pedophelia is a mental disease like sociopathics and studies have indicated that children are safer with gay parents then straight parents and are more loved as the divorce rate is lower in gays GAYS STAY PROUD!!!!
“General public perception is that child molestation is directly linked to homosexuality”…?
Um, no. In the US, maybe. Not in the UK and likely not in many EU countries. This article was written for a presumed readership only based in the US but is available worldwide, making the above statement wrong, wrong, wrong. Please be mindful you are writing for a global readership when making assertions. The American public in some areas is, sadly, considerably less well-educated than most EU citizens and more prone to techno-medieval attitudes, hatreds and prejudices. Thankfully, many of you buck the trend towards wilful ignorance cultivated by your leaders.
In the UK, the distinction between homosexuality and paedophilia is clear and well-understood by most everyone, even the most ignorant. Of course, prejudice against gay people still exists despite our having equality now in law and the right to marry in the form of civil partnerships (and, incidentally, the sky has not fallen in as a consequence and Jesus has not come down on his pearly escalator to berate us).
Paedophiles are recognised as being heterosexual men, usually related to children or close friends of the family but occasionally simply and horribly predators lying in wait. Gay men do not want to have sex with children; we are men who love men, not little boys. It’s so simple and easy to understand, anybody who doesn’t needs to be sent to special classes to try to break their bonds of stupidity and religious dogma. x
Many gays seem to deny any connection with being gay and sexual contact with little boys. But the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of little boys that are sexualy abused or molested are done so by adult gay men. These men show their homosexuality by their physical attraction to these adolesant males.
These little boys grow up confused with what sex is really about, and many of them turn to other men for sexual gratification when they get older. They identify with the gay culture and community.
Trying to deny what is happening in our society on the grounds of being politically correct is just wrong. Those of you who im sure will automaticaly resort to lableing my responce as hatefull, should insted let the reality of my words settle in.
Thank you,
Matt
I guess Matt was molested as a child by a man, and now blames all gay men for the molestation of young boys. How sad.
Believe it or not Matt, most grown men who molest little boys are not gay. Sexual orientation and gender really have nothing to do with it. Maybe you should have a sit down with an actual psychologist and talk about this issue, instead of spewing out garbage. I guarantee you, he or she will tell you the same thing.
And I find it interesting that you bring up young boys. What about the young girls? Girls are never molested? You have got to be joking, right? And should there be a link to heterosexual men and the molestation of young girls? Well according to your logic, there should be.
Why did someone delete the comments linked from the crime stats that show gay men are in reality, a thousand times more likely to be child molesters?
why would you delete the FBI crime stats that show fully 1/3 of all pedophiles are homosexuals? Yet homosexual are only 1% of the population?
Why would you want to hide the truth??
Someone must have ‘accidentely’ deleted the FBI crime stats proving gay men are about 1000 times more likely to be pedophiles than straight men.
Here, let me fix that for…must have been an accident, why would anyone want to hide the truth?
‘
Homosexuals Molest Children At A Far Higher Rate Than Heterosexuals
Homosexuals account for only 1-2% of our population based on current surveys. The National Opinion Research Center in 1992 found that 2.8% of men and 1.4% of women identified themselves as “homosexual” or “bisexual. A 1995 survey of 18-49-year-old men published by the Journal of Sex Research indicated that 2.6% of them had engaged in homosexual sex within the prior 12 months; 4% had had homosexual sex within the past five years. In other words, at least 98-99% of our population is heterosexual in orientation.
Homosexual activists routinely claim that most child molesters are “heterosexual” males, thus shifting the focus away from their own very high rates of molestation. Since 98-99% of the population is heterosexual, it is technically correct to say that most molestations are done by heterosexuals. However, statistics indicate that homosexuals pose a far more serious threat to children than do heterosexuals.
For example: In 1987, Dr. Stephen Rubin of Whitman College conducted a ten-state study of sex abuse cases involving school teachers. He studied 199 cases. Of those, 122 male teachers had molested girls, while 14 female teachers had molested boys. He also discovered that 59 homosexual male teachers had molested boys and four female homosexual teachers had molested girls. In other words, 32 percent of those child molestation cases involved homosexuals. Nearly a third of these cases come from only 1-2% of the population.
Dr. Judith Reisman, in her book, Kinsey, Crimes & Consequences, describes the research done by Dr. Gene Abel. This researcher compared the molestation rates of self-confessed homosexual and heterosexual child molesters. In a sample of 153 homosexual molesters, they confessed to a total of 22,981 molestations. This is equivalent to 150 children per molester. Self-admitted heterosexual molesters admitted to 4,435 molestations. This comes to 19.8 victims per molester. Dr. Abel concluded that homosexuals “sexually molest young boys at an incidence that is occurring from five times greater than the molestation of girls.”
This high rate of molestations by homosexuals is consistent with other studies conducted during the past several decades. Here are just a few studies that show homosexuals molesting children at epidemic rates:
The Los Angeles Times conducted a survey in 1985 of 2,628 adults across the U.S. Of those, 27% of the women and 16% of the men had been sexually molested. Seven percent of the girls and 93% of the men had been molested by adults of the same sex. This means that 40% of child molestations were by homosexuals. (Los Angeles Times, August 25-6, 1985)
In 1984, a Vermont survey of 161 adolescents who were sex offenders found that 35 of them were homosexuals (22%). (Wasserman, J., “Adolescent Sex Offenders—Vermont, 1984” Journal American Medical Association, 1986; 255:181-2)
In 1991, of the 100 child molesters at the Massachusetts Treatment Center for Sexually Dangerous Persons, a third were heterosexual, a third were bisexual, and a third were homosexual. (Dr. Raymond Knight, “Differential Prevalence of Personality Disorders in Rapists and Child Molesters,” Eastern Psychological Association Conference, New York, April 12, 1991)
Drs. Freund and Heasman of the Clark Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto reviewed two studies on child molesters and calculated that 34% and 32% of the sex offenders were homosexual. In cases these doctors had handled, 36% of the molesters were homosexuals. (Freund, K. “Pedophilia and Heterosexuality vs. Homosexuality,” Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 1984; 10:193-200)
From these studies and many more, it is evident that homosexuals molest children at a far greater rate than do their heterosexual counterparts. While they comprise only 1-2% of the population, they are responsible for upwards of a third or more of all sexual molestations of children.
Excuse me, I must be confused;
Why does it matter if a child is being molested by a homosexual or a hetereosexual? It’s not the sexual orientation that is causing this to happen, its the sick twisted mind of the person doing it. Any normal human being wouldnt even think of hurting/molesting a child, this has nothing to do with their sexual preference. Frankly, they are just extremily disturbed individuals.
All in all, isnt this the guardian’s fault by allowing someone who was potentially, and more likely than not, a little bit obviously unsafe, around their child?
I know this doesnt apply to everyone, cosidering those who were molested by relatives and family members, or complete strangers, but really, this subject isnt somthing to be argued about by the means of sexual orientation.
My father, a Bush-loving, Fox News-watching Republican homophobe, believes that gay men spend every waking hour thinking about molesting little boys. I have tried to convince him otherwise, but I think his belief that gay men are inherently evil makes him feel closer to God, so it’s hard to convince him otherwise. I am straight, but would feel more comfortable leaving a child in the care of an openly gay man than with a straight man if I didn’t know either of them.
I was hoping to find some facts when I saw this topic. The only fact I found was that the 15 yo girl is the most knowledgeable! My nephew, now age 25 was molested as a baby by his dad, who was/is presumably straight. He also molested the other five children. My nephew, who was raised Mormon has finally acknowledged he is gay. So is his brother. I am not concerned if the person that molested him was gay or straight. I am wondering why it seems like male children, that are molested, seem to become gay in a larger number than the rest of society. BTW, he was too young to even know that he had been molested.
I wish this was true, but I am sorry to say this article is based on fantasy and what people want to believe, not the facts.