aibu to be suspicious of former members of PIE

[haggistramp]

If you found out a man had been a member of PIE (Paedophile Information Exchange if you didn't know which was a legitimate organisation in the public domain with the backing of several prominent mps arguing to lower the age of consent/ make paedophilia socially acceptable) but appeared respectable now with a high up job, and had apologised for being a member, claiming he didn't understand what it was or he was just 'networking' would you still be highly suspicious of them and question their motives for everything? Yanbu - man is most likely a paedophile
Yabu - it was a long time ago, he didn't know what he was doing

Not a chance. PIE was well before the internet - you couldn’t accidentally click on something and bang, you’re in. You had to send off through the post, and go to meet ups! This was for proud nonces, frankly.

I knew someone who was instrumental in their dismantling and the prosecution of some members and there’s not a chance any of it was accidental.

Run. A. Mile.

Accidental paedo? Yeah that's likely

Who is it? If they are in the public eye and in a position of power then they should be named. And to answer your question, I absolutely would not trust this lying person and assume that they are in fact a paedophile.

@RedHelenB

So were they arguing for the age to be lowered for consensual gay sex from 21 to 18/16 back then or was it more than that?

Much, much more. That a sexual attraction to children was as natural as homosexuality and that had recently been decriminalised, so having a 12 year old girlfriend was clearly a perfectly acceptable thing to do at age 50, etc, etc..

Even back in the 80s when PIE had its peak and some politicians were OK talking to them and giving them an ear it was still an extreme and controversial organization. You couldn’t have been a member and not known what you were supporting.

I don’t know that they would necessarily be a pedophile in the sense of sexually liking prepubescent children, though. They would certainly have wanted the age of consent lowering BUT back then the age of consent for gay sex was 21 so there were a lot of gay and bisexual men who saw PIE as a way to equality for gay men. This is one of the main reasons PIE is not the pariah in the gay community that they are elsewhere.

I believe Harriet Harman was one of the paedophilia sympathisers back in the 70s? and other Labour members too

@Campervan69

There's a lot of talk about this on Twitter at the moment

twitter.com/Sal_Robins/status/1288486557213585410?s=19

James Dreyfuss is trying to draw attention to what's going on and asked blue ticks (verified accounts with lots of followers) to condem whats going on.

Sadly I haven't seen anyone brave enough to do so. No-one big at least ie with a huge following.

That twitter screen shot is chilling to the core

No way would I trust them.

I remember my mum and a neighbour talking in hushed tones about someone they knew was a member of PIE in the late seventies . Shockingly he turned up at my drama group a couple of times. I would have been about eight.

There was no doubt what PIE was about.

Cute name. Who doesn’t like pie? It reminds me of someone on tv saying how the US Military had a weapon called a ‘daisy cutter’ and how lovely it sounded until you saw what it did to human beings.

Also - Brass Eye and ‘Cake’

Really then any member of PIE or MAP is an easy target for the police to focus on?

Of course I would be suspicious. Thinking it’s a good thing to sexually abuse children isn’t something people grow out of. Sure there might be people who unthinkingly say things who then realise how incredibly wrong they were on reflection, but not about child sexual abuse and not people who have devoted their lives to eroding childrens’ right to be free of sexual abuse.

You wouldnt accidentally join a paedophiles club. Don't let this person near your kids.

I don't buy that, Butterer. I accept that some of his statements look worse out of context, but that page reeks of 'I'm not a paedophile apologist but...'

You could look long and hard at everything I have ever written, and not find anything which could be interpreted that way.

And it's hard to find any way to interpret his writing which isn't problematic.

Oh good, I thought you'd fallen for it!

I would be very suspicious. Can you name him ?

Yes, I would think that’s highly suspicious and I’d be revolted by anyone claiming they’d once been part of a club for paedophile sympathisers but only for ‘networking’. I mean, of all of the endless groups to make social and business connections with, why on earth would anyone go for people who think children and young teenagers are fair game for sexual advances? You don’t join groups like that to ‘network’. Why would anyone actively seek out networking opportunities with people who think paedophilia is ok? It doesn’t matter if it was a group populated by respectable figures. There are enough awful high-profile people with a ‘respectable’ facade to render this meaningless. Honestly, I’d never want to be near whoever is confessing to this.

Many years ago PIE requested my organisation print their magazine - we were shown a past copy - it was full of picture of children. We refused them.