The International (Lesbian and) Gay Association and the question of pedophilia: Tracking the demise of gay liberation ideals

Abstract

In 1993–1994, the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) lost its observer status in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) because US conservative groups publicised the membership of two pedophile groups. This article examines debates on pedophilia within ILGA before this event, and documents the slow decline of pro-pedophilia stances. It relates them to wider debates on gay liberation, and argues that pro-pedophilia arguments lost most of their appeal when new ways of imagining homosexual emancipation and new political goals emerged. Beyond the issue of intergenerational sex, it shows these debates were also about the kind of movement activists wanted to build together.