Pro-paedo t-shirts on sale in Manchester

[DJLippy]

I saw this in Manchester Canal Street this afternoon. or those that don't know "boy love" is code for the sexual attraction of men to pubescent and adolescent boys.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Man/Boy_Love_Association

I am SICKENED. Paedophiles have no place in the LGBT community. The fact that this is being displayed in broad day light. Equally disgusted and dismayed.

I got so angry I compiled a tweet.

twitter.com/makemorenoise1/status/1138511812155072513

I am bisexual and I feel like my community is being hijacked by fetishists. I just saw this by chance in town today and I am appalled. Gay rights have NOTHING to do with this shit. We are being tarred with this brush. NO!

LGBT rights have been hard won. I am dismayed by the failure of gay right organisations to address this growing problem. If this scandal breaks who will take the blame? LGBT folk want nothing to do with these monsters. It's time our leaders put our house in order.

Famous pop star in paedo clothing alert. Call the yewtree police.

What a lot of absolute nonsense.

I'm confused spoon bender - boy toy isn't paedophile slang

Can't help but think about that Sabrina song

Boys Boys Boys

Boys, boys, boys
I'm looking for a good time
Boys, boys, boys
Get ready for my love

It's from way back in the 80's, I didn't realise she was a Paedophile.

It's referring to man as boys that's the problem apparently though, that would be why the term boy means literally boy

I wouldn’t have thought of pedophilia.

I did however wonder whether the thread would be about homosexuals / lgbt people or certain religious groups...

If it said ‘girl love’ you wouldn’t be having the same conversation.

It's referring to man as boys that's the problem apparently though, that would be why the term boy means literally boy

That’s constantly done with women as well.... if a man talks about his girlfriend / his girl or about the attractive girl he just met at the bar? Very few people would assume pedophilia.

I think times have changed. It's been a good decade since most people realised they'd have to moderate their language to be clear that they're talking about another adult. Back in the 80s and 90s lots of people used to use 'boy' for young man and 'girl' for young woman. Since awareness of paedophilia has grown, I've noticed most people becoming a lot more precise with their language. Unless said 'girl' is 38 and it's really obvious you're not talking about an actual girl!

That’s constantly done with women as well.... if a man talks about his girlfriend / his girl or about the attractive girl he just met at the bar? Very few people would assume pedophilia.

That was kind of my point.

It's referring to man as boys that's the problem apparently though

No. It's the specific phrase "boy love" that is the issue as it has a very specific meaning.

ets down a metric shit ton of Prosecco, then go out and find some boys!", lots of women

You know some weird people

My female friends say ‘go out and find some men’ cue salacious talk about what sort of men, how equipped they may be and exactly what they intend doing to said men

Obviously my single friends

No. It's the specific phrase "boy love" that is the issue as it has a very specific meaning.

And I, and lots of other posters don't know that, so you can see where the confusion has come from?

But do make sure to follow the OP's not-at-all-alarmist twitter account everyone!!!!

Like and subscribe!!!

And I, and lots of other posters don't know that, so you can see where the confusion has come from?

Yes. But a quick Google would fix that. The best case scenario is that these manufacturers are naive and were genuinely unaware of this meaning.

Yes. But a quick Google would fix that.

Except I wouldn't see a t shirt in a shop window and google the slogan just in case it meant something else.

Doesn't it mean boys loving each other

If it said ‘girl love’ you wouldn’t be having the same conversation.

That's because girl love isn't paedophile slang.

What are people not understanding. Boy love is a slang term in the paedophile community (if I can use that word). That doesn't mean that any expression, sentence, song with the word 'boy' in is also a paedophile slang term.

It's a fairly basic part of English, the use of slang, and similar phrases having different meaning.

'She's a 1664' for example. Do you think that means someone looks like a bottle of beer? Or do you understand it means someone who looks young till they turn round. Can you understand that you can also use the date 1664 in a different context and not be referring to either women or beer?

Words are clever like that. Combine certain combinations of words and you get one meaning. Use one word with some different words and you get a completely different meaning.

And I, and lots of other posters don't know that, so you can see where the confusion has come from?

Given that it was explained right at the beginning it's hard to justify continued confusion...

Given that it was explained right at the beginning it's hard to justify continued confusion..

I didn't mean the confusion on the thread. I mean people genuinely don't make this connection.

Xyklonnis German for cyclone.
And I believe the O.P. is paranoid or just looking for something to be outraged about.

Oops meant zyklon

"Boylove" as used by paedophiles is a very niche term not known by many, to the point where I think it's very unreasonable to assume a t-shirt with "Boy Love" on it is a pro-paedophile shirt.

Apparently paedophines abbreviate "boylove" to "BL". Would you assume that something with the initials "BL" on it is was pro-paedophile? It's paedophile slang after all...

Good post @titchy

@justanswerthephone except you might if someone had told you that the slogan was used in an offensive way by some groups

20 years ago the naysayers on here would have been going 'Jimmy Savile's a lovely bloke. Look at all the charity and hospital work he does. You're just being mean because he's a celebrity'....

Indeed.

Do I think this is a deliberate attempt to reach out to paedophiles? Probably not, but I do think more care should be taken.

With some of these comments, it’s as if the PIE/NCCL disaster never happened... you should read this
www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/26/lobbying-paedophile-campaign-revealed-hewitt

If you honestly think that paedophilia could never be normalised, you’re not paying attention.

But, obviously, some words and phrases have multiple meanings (sometimes group specific).

If I saw a child wearing a t-shirt that said 'Bear Cub' on it (and such shirts are available), I would not understand it to be a t-shirt proclaiming the child to be a young, heavy-set or muscular gay or bisexual man (even though that's the meaning of the term within the gay community).

Similarly, I would not understand a t-shirt that said 'Boy Love', being sold in Manchester's gay village and manufactured by a company that make apparel for gay men, to be a reference to paedophile advocacy.

And I expect the gay term 'Bear' or 'Bear Cub' is much more widely known to the general public than the particulars of pro-paedophile slang.