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Revision as of 01:02, 8 July 2004 by Get-back-world-respect (talk | contribs) (or is it this way?)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) is a US-based organization of men who believe that sexual relationships between grown men and boys are often beneficial for the boys and should be legal. NAMBLA believes that men have a right to choose boys as their sexual partners. Some convicted sex offenders are thought to have been involved in the organization, including Paul Shanley, a Roman Catholic priest from Boston, Massachusetts, accused of criminal sexual activity with very young boys. NAMBLA was founded in 1978. Two men with alleged ties to NAMBLA were responsible for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 10-year-old Jeffrey Curley in October, 1997. The leadership of NAMBLA condemned this crime and the organisation is on record as opposing all violence and oppression.
The gay movement has been accused of having links to NAMBLA, especially by right-wing Christians, although the majority of gay rights organizations reject all these claims. In the early 1990s, the International Lesbian and Gay Association had its United Nations Economic and Social Council non-governmental organization status withdrawn after it was revealed it had links to NAMBLA. ILGA then expelled NAMBLA from the organization, but still has not been able to get back consultative status. Some members of the gay movement opposed ILGA's action as a witchhunt.
A similar organization in the Netherlands is the association MARTIJN (for acceptance of pedophilia), which was founded in 1982. Until 2004 Denmark had the Danish Pedophile Association (DPA), also called the Pedophile Group, because it used to be a group within the Danish homosexual association.
One episode of the popular adult cartoon show South Park parodied NAMBLA; it featured a fictional organisation with the same acronym, "The National Association of Marlon Brando Look Alikes".
See also: Boylover, Child sexual abuse, List of self-identified pedophiles