Thanks for the nod. There is an inordinate amount of predators involved in queer theory and sexology. I honestly couldn't believe how Hekma wasn't struck off or arrested, but actually supported by the University of Amsterdam. The decriminalization of sex trafficking, pedophilia, and gender ideology appear to be inextricably linked from where I'm sitting.
Where are the responsible adults? Pride has never been suitable for children, even less so now with all the extra alphabet.... This is horrifying. More of Stonewall's influence, I suspect.
You're right, of course. We need to work to bring Stonewall down, certainly get its charitable status revoked. I hope something comes out of the LGB Alliance case coming up in April, I think?
I agree, Pride isn't a suitable environment for children, and it's ceasing to be a suitable environment for women. Leabians are certainly being given that message. Pride has become an advertising opportunity for businesses and a platform for fetishists.
Google tells me he was at Dalton High School 7th October 2020, basically promoting his book 'Beyond the gender binary'. But that was in New York. Still loathsome.
How insulting to Carol Ann Duffy to be on the same board as some bloke who thinks he discovered makeup and dresses. I studied her poetry for my GCSEs 25 years ago. She writes beautifully. (She as a bit grumpy though when she visited my school, but we forgave her!).
I have to say that I think it was a poor decision to republish this article. It seems that there is no actual connection between the York school's activities and this dodgy academic
Gert Hekma. This bring the whole point uncomfortably close to tarring gay men as pseodphiles, of course a homophobic trope which I thought was way behind us. As a gay man who has been on many pride marches and events, I both like the celebration of sexuality, and, yes, even the kinky stuff. This does makes it inappropriate for younger teenagers in my opinion, and I do agree with the author that this is not responsible safeguarding by the school. Nevertheless it is wrong to bring in Gert Hemka merely as "guilt by association". Those are the tactics of the gender jesuits, and the GC side ought to be better than that. Poor judgement by the author and poor judgement to republish here. I would like to hear Arty's take on this.
Of course not all gay men are predators -- that's just another iteration of "not all men". Roughly 98% of pedophiles are men, in general, and straight men are already able to access and abuse little girls with relative impunity, even in the US where 14 states allow them to marry children. So it is not a matter of sexual orientation, but one of male predatory behavior, and gay men are not exempt from that.
Many men supported pro-pedophilia organizations of the past, and as Hekma demonstrates, continue to campaign in favor of them today using queer theory as a cover. Hekma was never removed from his post for his views sexualizing children and was allowed to continue publishing and lecturing. A prominent Pride organization that disavowed him did so quietly.
Again, obviously not all gay men are predators. So we ought to work together to root out the abusers rather than quietly avoiding them and allowing them to push their agenda from behind the rainbow. In researching Hekma, I did not notice any sustained or organized effort against him or the views he espoused.
Decades ago, feminists were at the front lines of doing so, and they were slandered for it then just as they are called "TERFs" now. Was the slur devised to preemptively discredit women who brought up boundaries and safeguarding by those who anticipated our resistance? I have wondered about this.
And I do not think it is wrong to mention Hekma in this context, quite the opposite, since he was for decades teaching sadism in the classroom.
I don't know if you're aware, but in the US there's been an uptick in a "sex positivity" industry which has "queer" counselors recommending BDSM as a form of (adult) therapy! One such case I wrote about involved a young lesbian being coerced into transitioning and being told that being beaten and called slurs was a form of affirmation.
There must be a way to balance a healthy education for children, but it's clearly not helpful to teach children that their body is a kind of fully-customizable accessory, or to introduce adult sexual themes at an early age. This article also points out as well how someone like Alok, who called little girls "kinky", has not suffered any tremendous backlash and instead is being applauded.
I understand your discomfort but it's an important point: is Pride a celebration of sexuality or is it a fun day out for the kids? I don't think it can comfortably be both and the current schizophrenia around the event, along with the connections to Queer Theory etc, have to be addressed at some point.
I also thank hedgehog for his response (sorry - I can't bring myself to write "their" so apologies if I have mis-sexed you!). I think I did understand your intent behind the article and agree that Pride is unsuitable for younger teens. I too encountered some of these shady characters attempting to latch onto the gay rights movement and was glad to see them marginalised. I think the only point I disagree on is one of emphasis - the likes of Hemka are merely expressing unpleasant opinions, compared to the real harm of infiltration by predators so well documented elsewhere on this site.
I must say, it is wonderful to be able to have a measured and civilized discussion about these important matters without anyone losing their rag!
Hi Keith, as the author of the piece I hear what you are saying and my intention certainly wasn't to tar gay men as paedophiles, I'm sorry if this was how it read. One of the things that angers me about Hekma is his own blurring of the lines between homosexuality and paedophillia. I drew him into the article for one important reason: he was a supporter of the 2007 decision to have a kid's boat at Amsterdam Pride and I wanted to use this as a way to explain my own unease about secondary schools having a formal presence at Pride and pupils (potentially under 16) attending with their teachers. In my view this is higly inappropraite for young teens, and I say that as someone for whom Pride was an important rite of passage (as I say in the article). I hope this explains a little better why I wrote what I did.
I support what you wrote. Of course all gay men aren't pedophiles, but pedophilia is a part of gay male culture as is leather, BDSM, etc. Pretending these paraphilas don't exist does not serve anyone well.
The Gert Hekma thing is appalling. However I am not sure I agree that young people should not attend Pride marches. It's about, or should be, celebrating lesbian and gay relationships, not necessarily sexual aspects. Children may be there with gay parents, young people may be starting to identify as lesbian or gay, wanting to support friends who are or just celebrate a more diverse world.
That being said, the Prides that I have been at in the last decade have all been in my home city where I don't think there has been anything in the way of displays of sexual fetishes etc. The visual display part has become a bit dominated by drag acts though and I am picking up that the organisers are "rainbow" types who don't understand the concerns of gender critical people so the potential for blurring if boundaries is a possibility even here I guess.
Wow, you're lucky from what I've heard. In places such as NYC or California men are nearly naked and their sexual fetishes are on full display, and that was decades ago. I would never take a child to Pride.
Well,here in my semi-rural town in Northern New South Wales,the last Pride march had a couple of men naked apart from a few dabs of paint and a few feathers here and there,but their male genitalia was on full show,many LGB people were upset as were the locals doing their Saturday shopping in the main street.Yes...there were lots of kids there,it made me feel sick and angry.I will never,ever go to another Pride event,my friends and I now celebrate in private.#LGB
There's unlikely to be a gay pride parade in my city this year. All the young wokies threw such a fit at the old boring gay people who ran it, for their shocking ideological impurities, that the latter threw up their hands and quit last year.
The kids couldn't organize their way out of a paper bag, so there's no plan for it to happen at all in 2022. All web mentions still go to the old website, where you can see the GBCW from everybody who organized it over the last several decades.
Thanks for the nod. There is an inordinate amount of predators involved in queer theory and sexology. I honestly couldn't believe how Hekma wasn't struck off or arrested, but actually supported by the University of Amsterdam. The decriminalization of sex trafficking, pedophilia, and gender ideology appear to be inextricably linked from where I'm sitting.
The whole thing is appalling.
Where are the responsible adults? Pride has never been suitable for children, even less so now with all the extra alphabet.... This is horrifying. More of Stonewall's influence, I suspect.
You're right, of course. We need to work to bring Stonewall down, certainly get its charitable status revoked. I hope something comes out of the LGB Alliance case coming up in April, I think?
I agree, Pride isn't a suitable environment for children, and it's ceasing to be a suitable environment for women. Leabians are certainly being given that message. Pride has become an advertising opportunity for businesses and a platform for fetishists.
Some lesbians in the States stopped going to Pride back in the 1990s due to the displays of gay male sexuality.
Piece of PIE anyone?
Which Scottish school is it that has the Alok Vaid-Menon tribute up? Does anyone know? (I live in Scotland with 2 school-age kids!)
Google tells me he was at Dalton High School 7th October 2020, basically promoting his book 'Beyond the gender binary'. But that was in New York. Still loathsome.
How insulting to Carol Ann Duffy to be on the same board as some bloke who thinks he discovered makeup and dresses. I studied her poetry for my GCSEs 25 years ago. She writes beautifully. (She as a bit grumpy though when she visited my school, but we forgave her!).
Brilliant piece Hedgehog.
I have to say that I think it was a poor decision to republish this article. It seems that there is no actual connection between the York school's activities and this dodgy academic
Gert Hekma. This bring the whole point uncomfortably close to tarring gay men as pseodphiles, of course a homophobic trope which I thought was way behind us. As a gay man who has been on many pride marches and events, I both like the celebration of sexuality, and, yes, even the kinky stuff. This does makes it inappropriate for younger teenagers in my opinion, and I do agree with the author that this is not responsible safeguarding by the school. Nevertheless it is wrong to bring in Gert Hemka merely as "guilt by association". Those are the tactics of the gender jesuits, and the GC side ought to be better than that. Poor judgement by the author and poor judgement to republish here. I would like to hear Arty's take on this.
Of course not all gay men are predators -- that's just another iteration of "not all men". Roughly 98% of pedophiles are men, in general, and straight men are already able to access and abuse little girls with relative impunity, even in the US where 14 states allow them to marry children. So it is not a matter of sexual orientation, but one of male predatory behavior, and gay men are not exempt from that.
Many men supported pro-pedophilia organizations of the past, and as Hekma demonstrates, continue to campaign in favor of them today using queer theory as a cover. Hekma was never removed from his post for his views sexualizing children and was allowed to continue publishing and lecturing. A prominent Pride organization that disavowed him did so quietly.
Again, obviously not all gay men are predators. So we ought to work together to root out the abusers rather than quietly avoiding them and allowing them to push their agenda from behind the rainbow. In researching Hekma, I did not notice any sustained or organized effort against him or the views he espoused.
Decades ago, feminists were at the front lines of doing so, and they were slandered for it then just as they are called "TERFs" now. Was the slur devised to preemptively discredit women who brought up boundaries and safeguarding by those who anticipated our resistance? I have wondered about this.
And I do not think it is wrong to mention Hekma in this context, quite the opposite, since he was for decades teaching sadism in the classroom.
I don't know if you're aware, but in the US there's been an uptick in a "sex positivity" industry which has "queer" counselors recommending BDSM as a form of (adult) therapy! One such case I wrote about involved a young lesbian being coerced into transitioning and being told that being beaten and called slurs was a form of affirmation.
There must be a way to balance a healthy education for children, but it's clearly not helpful to teach children that their body is a kind of fully-customizable accessory, or to introduce adult sexual themes at an early age. This article also points out as well how someone like Alok, who called little girls "kinky", has not suffered any tremendous backlash and instead is being applauded.
I understand your discomfort but it's an important point: is Pride a celebration of sexuality or is it a fun day out for the kids? I don't think it can comfortably be both and the current schizophrenia around the event, along with the connections to Queer Theory etc, have to be addressed at some point.
I completely agree that it can't be both.
I also thank hedgehog for his response (sorry - I can't bring myself to write "their" so apologies if I have mis-sexed you!). I think I did understand your intent behind the article and agree that Pride is unsuitable for younger teens. I too encountered some of these shady characters attempting to latch onto the gay rights movement and was glad to see them marginalised. I think the only point I disagree on is one of emphasis - the likes of Hemka are merely expressing unpleasant opinions, compared to the real harm of infiltration by predators so well documented elsewhere on this site.
I must say, it is wonderful to be able to have a measured and civilized discussion about these important matters without anyone losing their rag!
Hi Keith, as the author of the piece I hear what you are saying and my intention certainly wasn't to tar gay men as paedophiles, I'm sorry if this was how it read. One of the things that angers me about Hekma is his own blurring of the lines between homosexuality and paedophillia. I drew him into the article for one important reason: he was a supporter of the 2007 decision to have a kid's boat at Amsterdam Pride and I wanted to use this as a way to explain my own unease about secondary schools having a formal presence at Pride and pupils (potentially under 16) attending with their teachers. In my view this is higly inappropraite for young teens, and I say that as someone for whom Pride was an important rite of passage (as I say in the article). I hope this explains a little better why I wrote what I did.
I support what you wrote. Of course all gay men aren't pedophiles, but pedophilia is a part of gay male culture as is leather, BDSM, etc. Pretending these paraphilas don't exist does not serve anyone well.
The Gert Hekma thing is appalling. However I am not sure I agree that young people should not attend Pride marches. It's about, or should be, celebrating lesbian and gay relationships, not necessarily sexual aspects. Children may be there with gay parents, young people may be starting to identify as lesbian or gay, wanting to support friends who are or just celebrate a more diverse world.
That being said, the Prides that I have been at in the last decade have all been in my home city where I don't think there has been anything in the way of displays of sexual fetishes etc. The visual display part has become a bit dominated by drag acts though and I am picking up that the organisers are "rainbow" types who don't understand the concerns of gender critical people so the potential for blurring if boundaries is a possibility even here I guess.
Wow, you're lucky from what I've heard. In places such as NYC or California men are nearly naked and their sexual fetishes are on full display, and that was decades ago. I would never take a child to Pride.
Well,here in my semi-rural town in Northern New South Wales,the last Pride march had a couple of men naked apart from a few dabs of paint and a few feathers here and there,but their male genitalia was on full show,many LGB people were upset as were the locals doing their Saturday shopping in the main street.Yes...there were lots of kids there,it made me feel sick and angry.I will never,ever go to another Pride event,my friends and I now celebrate in private.#LGB
Why do males always have to ruin everything? Their biggest project, THE PLANET, is going according to plan.
There's unlikely to be a gay pride parade in my city this year. All the young wokies threw such a fit at the old boring gay people who ran it, for their shocking ideological impurities, that the latter threw up their hands and quit last year.
The kids couldn't organize their way out of a paper bag, so there's no plan for it to happen at all in 2022. All web mentions still go to the old website, where you can see the GBCW from everybody who organized it over the last several decades.
😄It's grim but I love your description
What your gay friend said makes perfect sense.