Pedophilia needs to become a socially respected sexual orientation, says a statement issued by the Young Democrats, the youth wing of the Dutch Democratic party (D66) which is part of the four-member governing coalition in The Hague.
The statement was published months ago after being accepted by the organization’s last general meeting but largely went unnoticed outside the Netherlands until earlier this week, when it resurfaced among English-speaking Twitter users. “Pedophilia is a sexual orientation that one is born with,” the original Dutch text declares.
With over 3,500 members, The Young Democrats (JD) is one of the country’s largest political youth organizations, which claims to be “politically independent” but “affiliated with the social-liberal party D66.” According to its mission statement, JD promotes the “radical democratization” of society, as well as European federalism, individual freedom, and economic sustainability. JD runs several branches throughout the Netherlands and offers membership to activists as young as 12.
In its statement, the Young Democrats noted that pedophilia should be normalized by society as a sexual orientation because the stigma currently associated with it leads to pedophiles having a “higher chance of depression,” many of whom “consider committing suicide,” and because of the absence of an available sexual identity this element of society—especially teenagers— could associate with.
In fact, the normalization of pedophilia has been ongoing for some time now in many Western countries, usually by rebranding the term as “pedosexuality” or using “minor-attracted person,” with the specific endorsement of the European Union itself.
Apart from promoting the wider social acceptance of pedophilia, the Dutch statement issues concrete policy recommendations as well. It suggests, for instance, that schools should start teaching about pedophilia as a sexual orientation within their regular sex education curriculum, with “more insight and nuance” with regard to the topic.
Moreover, in a second statement approved at the same meeting, the Young Democrats explicitly advocate for more research into the effect of “virtual child pornography” in reducing the risk of child abuse.
The statement argues that since pedophilia is an innate sexual orientation, the criminalization of (hand-drawn or AI-generated) “virtual child pornography” is a form of discrimination. JD believes that animated child porn “does not increase the risk of child abuse” but “might help pedophiles get to know their feelings without harming other people.”
While admitting that, based on the limited scientific data currently available, it would be too risky to legalize virtual child pornography right away, JD recommends that “Government research should be conducted into the link” between watching real and animated child porn, as well as the connection of both of these to actual child abuse.
The European Conservative contacted D66 for comments but received no answer so far.
