"Youth Liberation has argued for some time
that young people should have the right to have sex as well as not to have
it, and with whom they choose. The statutory structure of the sex laws
has been identified as oppressive and insulting to young people. A range
of sexual activities are legally defined as molestation, regardless of
the quality of the relationship or the amount of consent involved. ...
The recent career of boy-love in the public mind should
serve as an alert that the self-interests of the feminist and gay movements
are linked to simple justice for stigmatized sexual minorities. ... We
must not reject all sexual contact between adults and young people as inherently
oppressive."
See Gayle Rubin's brilliant article, "Sexual Politics, the New Right, and the Sexual Fringe" in The Age Taboo, Alyson, 1981, pp. 108-115. This originally appeared in Leaping Lesbian, 2/2 (February, 1978), P. O. Box 7715, Ann Arbor, MI 48107.
Also, see Rubin, Gayle "Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality" in Abelove, Barale, Halperin, et al, (Eds.), The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. (1992).
Tsang
centers this collection of essays on man/boy love around the issues of
gay male sexuality, power and consent. He has labored to include disparate
voices in the discussion, with pieces from feminists Kate Millet and Pat
Califia as well as the editors of Lesbians Rising. Gay and lesbian teenagers,
some themselves in cross-generation relationships, are also represented,
and the subjects of childhood, racism and ideology are explored.
The work captures both a historical moment at the end
of the 70s, when most of the pieces were written, and continuing questions
that divide the gay and lesbian community to this day.
(Alyson Publications, 178 pp)
Copyright
© NAMBLA, 1999. All rights reserved.