Rather, they explained that this term was preferred as a broader reference that could accurately encompass hebephiles, pedophiles, and ephebephiles:
The Prevention Project, an organization that helps minor-attracted persons find professional treatment, explicitly denied that the term “MAPs” was an attempt to “rebrand” pedophiles. Organizations such as B4UAct have been using the term “minor attracted persons” for years to refer to “adults who experience feelings of preferential sexual attraction to children or adolescents under the age of consent.” Pedophiles did not coin the term “minor attracted persons” (or MAPS) to rebrand themselves in 2018 in order to gain entry to the LGBT community. Sites like The Prevention Project have started to post testimonials from paedophiles who are seeking help with their attraction, claiming everyone “needs support”. The group attempt to claim that paedophiles are misunderstood people and if they do not act upon their attraction to children, they shouldn’t be marginalised. In a bid to gain acceptance, they have rebranded themselves as MAPs or “Minor Attracted Persons” and have gone so far to even create a rainbow “Pride” flag for Gay Pride, but Twitter user, Communist Fish, posted a picture back in June to warn children to stay away. Paedophiles are trying to gain acceptance to the LGBT community by rebranding themselves. Websites such as the Daily Caller and “ Attitude” picked up on this alleged “MAPs Pride Flag” and reported that pedophiles were “rebranding” themselves as “Minor Attracted Persons” in an attempt to be accepted by the LGBT community: If you happen to see this flag on any Social Media Profile or someone using the term MAP in their bio, please REPORT the Pedophile running that account. This is a Minor Attracted Person (MAP) (polished term for pedophile) flag. When pictures of this “MAP flag” began circulating on Facebook, the posts typically included messages warning other social media users to be wary of anyone displaying this flag: This picture does not represent a “MAPs Pride Flag.” Rather, the image was created as part of a troll experiment on Tumblr.
In December 2017, for instance, internet trolls spread a false rumor that the letter “P,” representing “pedosexual,” was being added to the initialism LGBT (for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender”).Īn eerily similar rumor was spread via social media in June 2018 in the form of an image purportedly showing a “MAPs (Minor-Attracted Persons) Pride Flag” supposedly created for Gay Pride Month: In 2020, QAnon believers began to coalesce around anti-mask and anti-vaccine coronavirus conspiracy theories.Īshli Babbitt, the 35-year-old veteran who was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer during the insurrection, was a believer in QAnon.A number of fear-mongering campaigns over the years have attempted to link pedophilia to the LGBTQ community, despite an utter lack of scientific proof of any such connection. Its online campaigns under the hashtag #SaveOurChildren have also been used as an anti-LGBTQ dog whistle. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has said the QAnon belief that elites are abducting children to harvest their blood for a chemical used to extend people’s lives is a variation of an anti-Semitic trope that has existed for centuries. The loosely organized group exists largely online and follows cryptic messages and instructions from an anonymous person known only as Q. QAnon is a sprawling online conspiracy theory whose adherents believe Trump is leading a crusade against a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles who encompass a majority of the nation’s elites, including politicians, celebrities and executives. QAnon SYMBOL DETAILS: The letter ‘Q’ (Photo illustration by Daron Taylor/The Washington Post photo by Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)