I am in no way shape or form a defender of Foley’s. He’s a sleazeball as far as I’m concerned. But the word pedophilia is being thrown around awfully promiscuously if you ask me. I know that asking people to use the word “ephebophilia” is a bit too much, but these pages weren’t, strictly speaking, children. These kids were older than the legal age of consent to marry in most states — does that mean these states are carrying laws on the books countenancing child brides and, by extension, pedophilia?
The funny thing is that you would think the left — particularly the gay left — would be a bit more interested in not having 16 and 17 year old teenagers classified as young children for legal/sexual/political purposes. If that were the case, then a whole lot of dirty old men would need to be prosecuted for felonies when they pick up street hustlers. It would also mean that movies like Porky’s and Fast Times at Ridgemont High were in fact ersatz kiddie porn. The former wouldn’t bother me that much while I think the latter is ridiculous. Regardless the standard being used against Foley is one that I guarantee will bite back in all sorts of interesting ways. See Rich’s point below on Boy Scouts, for example.