Activist throughout the world, including in the United Nations, are pushing for the adoption of language that says pedophiles are not always harmful to children and that pedophilia ought to be a protected sexual orientation.
Moses Bratrud of the Minnesota Family Council tells AFN what happened when the subject recently came up in the state legislature.
"There was a bill that would amend the Minnesota Human Rights Act, and there was language in the existing Human Rights Act that made it clear that – quote unquote – 'sexual attachment to children [by an adult]' was not a protected sexual orientation," Bratrud relays. "Representative Leigh Finke (D), who is transgender, introduced a bill that would have, among other things, removed that language."
LifeSiteNews.com notes that the act is already broad and that it has been interpreted as requiring Minnesota schools to let transgender-identifying boys use girls' bathrooms and locker rooms, but its legal protections clearly do not extend to adults who are sexually attracted to children.
Finke, a man who identifies as a woman and is "committed to expanding protections for trans, queer and LGBTQ people of all ages," argued that the language is "outdated" and "incorrectly ties pedophilia to a person's sexual orientation."
He claimed that removing the clarifying statement would not impact existing laws surrounding sexual crimes committed against children, but lawmakers and many Minnesota voters saw the potential for that to create a loophole for child sexual exploitation.
"An amendment was offered to that bill that actually creates new protections for kids from child exploitation," Bratrud reports.
The amendment passed unanimously in the Minnesota House, and the Minnesota Family Council is grateful for the work of legislators and Minnesotans who spoke up after awareness about this issue was raised.
