Roderik Muit
Roderik Muit (b. April 27, 1974) is a successful IT professional from the Netherlands, known for his work in defence of free speech on the internet, and voluntary self-identification as a minor-attracted person (Boylover).
Information technology, and internet activities
In addition to having worked in the IT departments of a number of large companies, Muit has for a long time sought to provide affordable webspace to other persons who seek to publish unpopular ideas. This not-for-profit work has enabled a number of websites which discuss pedophilia openly to exist for far longer than they would have under mainstream hosting arrangements. Muit is also one of the administrators behind the Dutch website pedofilie.nl, a forum for the open discussion of pedophilia. He cites the positive effects of catharsis for minor-attracted people as one of the reasons he continues to provide assistance to websites that discuss pedophilia.[1]
2007: The MARTIJN case, and wider public exposure
- Main article: Dutch Princess Photograph Controversy.
A major turning point in Muit's public life came in October 2007, when he defended the MARTIJN Association against a lawsuit, brought by the Dutch Royal family. The lawsuit, based upon an incident in which a MARTIJN forum member posted pictures of the Royal Family, was supported by the false allegations of Yvonne van Hertum, and her lobbying of the media.
Muit claims that he lost paid work as a result of van Hertum's approaches towards his work contacts.[2]
Purpose and nature of self-identification
Whilst Muit's presence as a publicly identifiable minor-attracted person is not strictly activist in nature, his example, including his own self-declared non-sexual friendships with both adults and children, goes to show that with a degree of self-acceptance and resilience, it is possible to live publicly as a Boylover. From a cursory reading of his own blog posts, it appears that his success in this regard can be put down to a number of factors:
- Independence:
Muit chose to come out at a point where he was a trained and experienced IT professional with the capacity for independent streams of income.
- Unpointed disclosure:
Whilst others have made a primary point of coming out as attracted to youth, Muit only refuses to deny this attraction. In this sense, sexuality is not something that he actively forces upon others, but something that he is unwilling to live in denial over. Muit does not run sites that repeatedly push the fact that he has an attraction to under-age boys for example. He is also known not to identify as a "pedophile" to people who would infer danger and mental illness from the term, as his own life history clearly contradicts this.
- Self-defence:
Despite a prolonged campaign of harassment carried out by self-described Dutch "Pedo Hunter" and convicted criminal Yvonne van Hertum, Muit is just as frequently criticised and libelled by American anti-pedophile bloggers, operating under pseudonyms. Muit's grounding in IT allows him to defend himself with direct responses on his own website. In addressing obvious libel, these responses tend to come across as more authoritative and dignified than the speculation of American vigilantes who have no personal knowledge of him. As Muit is known to have been accepted by friends and family, editorials describing him as a danger to children (for example, Wikisposure) sometimes come across as disingenuous, culturally insensitive and motivated more by hate than a genuine interest in the safety of minors.
- Openness:
At no point has Muit attempted to hide his attractions from others, and he makes it clear that he does not seek and has never sought any kind of sexual relationship with youths, despite many years of everyday contact with other families. In some instances, he has been forthcoming about his attractions. It has long been known from the experiences of homosexuals, that if one is open about their sexuality in a non-coercive manner, or even forthcoming, this tends to ease the perception of their "condition" as a "dirty secret".
References
External Links
- Webcorner - Roderik's non-business site.
- Roderik's response to Wikisposure