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The North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) is an organization of pederasts/pedophiles who argue that young people should be given the right to make decisions in their lives, including decisions about sex. Because NAMBLA refused to limit their arguments to pederastic relationships only, that is with boys aged 12 and up, the organization was tarred by the right-wing and the gay and lesbian community itself as being a pedophile organization interested only in exploiting and raping children. This has proved to be an effective argument for all sides, except for pederasts and pedophiles.

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 In the early 1990s, the International Lesbian and Gay Association had its UN ECOSOC consultative NGO status withdrawn after it was revealed it had links to NAMBLA.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. A small minority of the gay movement opposed ILGA's action as a witchhunt. Read a chronology of the ILGA Purges.

The US Congress threatened to stop UN dues payments if the UN gave consultative status to any groups who defended pedophilia -- this was under the Helms amendment to the 1994-1995 Foreign Relations Authorization Act Fiscal Year 1994/1995 (Public Law 103-236) which stated in section 101(g):

(g) WITHHOLDING OF FUNDS- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the funds authorized to be appropriated for `Contributions for International Organizations' shall be reduced in the amount of $118,875,000 for each of the fiscal years 1994 and 1995, and for each year thereafter, unless the President certifies to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate that no United States agency or United Nations affiliated agency grants any official status, accreditation, or recognition to any organization which promotes, condones, or seeks the legalization of pedophilia, or which includes as a subsidiary or member any such organization.'

The analogue of NAMBLA in The Netherlands is the association MARTIJN (for acceptence of pedophilia), which was founded in 1982.