I know I'm going to catch a tremendous amount of grief over this, but I believe I'm speaking the truth, so I gotta do it, ya know?
Ok...here it is. Based on all the knowledge we have, nothing indicates Foley is a pedophile. Sexual predator? Absolutely. Guilty of inappropriate sexual contact with minors? Quite probably, depending on the legal age of consent statutes of the jurisdictions involved. A fucking hypocritical piece of shit scumbag? Looks like it!
But no, he's not a pedophile. A pedophile is a someone who is "sexually attracted to pre-pubescent or peripubescent" people. Sixteen and seventeen year-olds (which are the only ages we have seen involved so far) are NOT in these categories. This is the accepted mental health definition, and I urge people to stick with it.
People have talked about how, "colloquially," the word "pedophile" is used as such. So what? "Colloquially," the word "gay" means "lame" or "stupid." I don't think that should matter a bit.
Our "sister country," the United Kingdom, has an age of consent of 16. Does that mean the U.K. has legalized pedophilia? Of course not. What it has done is realized a truth: human beings become sexually mature and (usually) active when they are teens, and it is illogical to criminalize it.
I had sexual contact for the first time at 16. I had it with another 16-year-old boy. Were we children? No. Was it some sort of mutual pedophilia? Of course not. Hell, it was a lot of fun. I'm glad I did it, and I'd recommend it to any 16 year old gay boy. Or girl. Or a heterosexual. Or whatever, just have fun, be safe, USE CONDOMS IF PENETRATING, etc.
Does a 52-year-old talking sexually with a teenager creep me the hell out? Fucking yeah. As I've aged (I'm now 30), my attraction has aged as well, and men about my age are just what I want. Teenagers are zit-covered, smelly, obnoxious, immature, etc. in my book, and I can't fathom why anyone would find them sexually attractive. I mean...gross. So yeah, it's disturbing that some dude 50+ years old finds them hot. But it's not pedophilia, for fuck's sake.
Why is this an issue? As many have stated, the issue is that there is a widespread stereotype that gay men lure in children for their sexual satisfactions. In short, many believe all gay men are pedophiles. Labeling Foley as such fits into that meme perfectly, and we should NOT do it. His trespasses are severe enough--attaching the "p" word to it may serve to denigrate the man even more (and I don't object to that per se), but it ultimately plays to the canard that gay men want to molest little boys.
So harp on the power issue. A congressman sexually harrassing pages, whatever their gender, is disgusting. Harp on the age difference, since a 52-year-old should goddamn find someone at least 20 years within his age range, damn it. Harp on the hypocrisy of a GOP stooge spending his time on AOL asking a teenager how he masturbates. Harp on a GOP leadership that knew what a creepazoid Foley was but swept it under the rug in a manner that would make the Catholic church proud.
But please, stop calling it pedophilia, because it isn't. Mark Foley is a sexual predator and he was enabled in his predation by a gutless GOP leadership. That's more than enough to skewer the bastards, so there's no need for hyperbole.
Thank you. Forgive me for any ineloquence, as several Jameson on the rocks will do such things.
UPDATE: Why the hell is this on the recommended diary list? It's not that important, folks. It was me just saying my peace. I think we've all had the back and forth we will. I stand by what I've written, and thank everyone for their thoughtful comments. Now fly, my pretties, and bring me the head of Denny Hastert on a pike! Fly!