Facing what seams like a very similar situation. Is there a way to contact you?

The problem with that is that these people are so up there in age that they’d most likely die in prison and never get a taste of the laws they created on the registry.

Ed C,

Your comment was a better read than the actual article. The things you said are what a professor should be saying to his/her students. Perhaps you should continue on this topic, save it and try to publish it somewhere that will be seen by many people.

Sexual prejudices evolved at least in part because people tend to hate what they fear most in themselves. Homophobia generally results in persons who have at least a kernel of sexual insecurity and lash out in an attempt to overcompensate. This is not to diminish valid consciously derived rationales such as religious convictions, However, those alone do not explain the vindictiveness and vitriol expressed by some toward homosexuals.

Consider this broad category of persons termed sex offenders. We all know the spectrum ranges from innocent childhood sex play to the most heinous violent rapists. This begs the question of why society tends to lump all together.

IMHO, doing so is a way to, metaphorically, push away the mirror. Sexuality is deeply embedded in humans, and is not just a secondary characteristic of the species. Virtually everyone has had some stray thought that made them feel uncomfortable and fearful of their own potential. This could be as simple as a married person having fleeting thoughts about a coworker, a brief speculation about gay sex, or merely taking note of a niece blossoming into a young woman.

It is very comforting for a person to convince him or herself that any potential for sexual impropriety is not internal, but exists only in those “others” who are somehow permanently damaged monsters. Then the mirror has receded to a manageable distance.

Professor Zilney is correct that the framing starts with language, that appends a permanent scarlet letter to former offenders. Words are distorted, misused and misunderstood when they leak from psychology, law or other disciplines into the common vernacular. When taken out of the original context, they lose their very specific meanings, which renders them meaningless.

The term “pedophile” is one particularly relevant term. For example, Jeffrey Epstein is consistently referred to as a pedophile. He may have been many horrible things, but he was never accused of nor diagnosed with pedophilia. His victims were not prepubescent children, which is the core requirement for the diagnosis. Yet in public discourse, and in the media, this very specifically defined term is used only as a pejorative and has descended to the status of a “dog whistle.”

It is difficult, if not impossible, to get people to understand constitutional rights and how important they are, even when its the rights of others being abused. People only seem to be capable of a change in thinking or to care about things when it directly affects their lives.

Thank you for your critical and precise analyses of the aforementioned!

I felt the same way you did, and chose to leave the Mainland, wherein I could and still can enjoy going to beach, fish, body surf, and stay to myself….got a simple job that pays the bills…drive a simple island beat up car, but am Able to survive with a decreased amount of societal negativity and police brutality!

If you are single with no other family responsibilities, I would leave ASAP!

Good Luck and stay as positive as you can, especially during these unprecedented times!

JJJJ, well written and thought out. Some much info provided in the past couple of days to provide for another letter to the governor and the news paper.