Think of it as a societal variation on “Don’t ask, don’t tell” customized for the twenty-first century. It is Senate Bill 145, and it was introduced in the California state legislature in late January by Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener in the hopes of ending “discrimination against LGBT people.” What it does in actuality is it conceals the public identity of selected pederasts.
SB 145 would be an amendment to the current statute on child molestation — the Sex Offender Registration Act — under which a pedophile is not required to register as a sex offender if (1) his “partner” is within ten years of his age and (2) the sex act consists of vaginal intercourse. “Since LGBT people usually cannot engage in vaginal intercourse,” the Sex Offender Registration Act as originally written is discriminatory in Wiener’s view. As the senator, who is himself gay, explained in a statement:
[SB 145] is about treating everyone equally under the law. Discrimination against LGBT people is simply not the California way. These laws were put in place during a more conservative and anti-LGBT time in California’s history. They have ruined people’s lives and made it harder for them to get jobs, secure housing, and live productive lives. It is time we update these laws and treat everyone equally.
Rick Zbur, director of Equality California, an LGBTQ advocacy group, agrees. In a statement of his own picked up by the San Francisco Examiner (via the Bay City News), he said:
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
There’s no reason for the law to treat a high school senior dating a high school junior differently because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. For years, we’ve been working to make this common-sense fix and ensure LGBTQ young people are treated the same as their peers.
But the law isn’t about “dating.” It’s about a person with a mental defect preying on a minor.
I agree with Wiener that the original law should be amended. However, it should be changed so as to require that all pedophiles report as sex offenders regardless of their age and sex crime.
