An edited version of this letter was published in the Vancouver Sun in August '97.
Two recent articles in the Vancouver Sun raise the specter of pedophilia
in cyberspace, and in the process equate homosexuality with child abuse.
In an article about "streetproofing" children for the internet
(Parents urged to warn children about cyberspace dangers, July 29), two
examples of girls aged 11 and 13 being lured from home by adult men are
equated with the story of "a 15-year-old boy from a Seattle suburb
[who] ran away to San Francisco to join another youth he met in an America
Online chat room for gays."
It's reasonable to assume that heterosexual 15-year-olds don't run away
with the first homosexual they meet, whether electronically or through any
other means of communication. But by presenting this as an example of the
dangers of cyberspace, the implication is that unsuspecting young people
can be lured into being gay.
How much support was available to that young man in suburban Seattle? My
guess is he felt the same isolation, hostility and daily fear of violence
experienced by most gay and lesbian teenagers.
Two days later we are told of indirect links from a government web site
to "an on-line magazine for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youths"
and "an electronic publishing forum for gay teens." (Premier's
web site for kids linked to explicit sex lines, July 31).
Fair enough. It makes sense that a government web site for youth would take
into account diversity issues, including the fact that not all young people
are heterosexual. Yet this situation is described as "allowing potential
child abusers to contact children."
Time for a reality check. There is a world of difference between preying
on children and providing support to gay and lesbian youth. Unfortunately
such distinctions are lost on professional homophobe Kari Simpson, who fosters
her usual hysteria by accusing the government of "facilitat[ing] the
abuse and exploitation of children."
Sexual minority youth are in desperate need of support. Who is providing
it? Not most parents - in suburban Seattle or elsewhere - and certainly
not Kari Simpson and her ilk. Removing links on web sites or even unplugging
their computers won't change the fact that a sizable minority of teens live
in real fear of the violently homophobic environment in which they live.
.
The important question is not why support for queer youth is available in
cyberspace, but why it isn't available everywhere else.
Steve Martindale
Vancouver
