In relevant forums, many people like to identify themselves with the so-called childlove symbols. These three are very well known:
Various media make a fool of themselves at irregular intervals by discovering these ‘secret symbols’ and interpreting them in adventurous ways. Or recognise them in company logos, such as Langnese.
This includes these terms, which are intended to describe the exact orientation of a paedophile in a catchy and concise way:
As I said, these terms are tantalisingly short and practical in contrast to the technical terms puellaphilic or puerphilic or other constructions such as homo- or heteropaedophilic. The ‘lover’ in these terms has the same meaning as the German "Liebhaber" and can refer to both platonic love and sexual contact such as an affair. In the context of interpersonal contact, however, it is usually used to describe sexual contact. As in ‘having a lover’ as opposed to ‘having an admirer’.
The terms can therefore be used purely to describe the orientation, but they also allow offenders to disguise their actions as ‘having a lover’. So are they to be categorised as euphemisms? This is probably open to debate. In any case, they make it easy for perpetrators to trivialise their actions as ‘love’ and ‘loving’ and we find that inappropriate.
In addition, there are the Childlove symbols, which to our knowledge originate from groups and from a time when open sexual contact with children was propagated. It is mainly sites that still advocate or tolerate this attitude today that decorate and identify with them. Perpetrators and ideologues who consider the criminalisation of sexual assaults on children to be just as unjust as bans on homosexual contact. It is therefore not just a matter of origin or the past, but these symbols are still used in this way today. Virtuous Pedophiles_, on the other hand, has clearly decided against this symbolism for this reason.
We in the team have also decided to avoid these terms and symbols and not to promote their use for the sake of clarity and to clearly reject such trivialisations.
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