Ethos of Newgon

Welcome to Newgon.net, the home of NewgonWiki - an information resource maintained by Newgon Organization and its support team.

Our site discusses and promotes alternative perspectives on physical attractions and relationships between legal minors and adults. In line with current trends, we also have an increasing focus on the social situation of minor attracted people (MAPs). Our aim is to produce information sources that are easy to use in front-line activism, and to organize that activism where possible. We are an international, informal, organization with no official membership register. Our name/identity and information scheme are free to use and open source respectively. That is to say that you may register, or open new branches at the local level, which will remain officially independent of the international umbrella. For Support Team members, we have two binding (dark green) and one non-binding (light green) policy positions, as detailed below. Other topics of concern are highlighted in yellow.

Platform

The MAP issue (and our policy)

Despite our crucial role in the birth of MAP discourse, Newgon Organization is not a peer-support group for MAPs. We nevertheless welcome their input, and boast of many supporters who are themselves MAPs. Unlike some (but not all) MAP/ally organizations, we firmly believe that research already strongly indicates that pedophilia (estimated at 3-5% prevalence by the DSM-5) is not a mental illness or disorder. We maintain that pedophilia is wrongly conflated with hebephilia, and used by the establishment and its media as a social scapegoat. We would like to see pedophilia addressed from a pure mental health point of view, with a secondary emphasis placed on reducing stigma and secondary harms through awareness raising. To this end, our binding policy is as follows:

Remove all reference to chronophilias from the DSM and ICD (binding position)

Our first position is that pedophilia should not be included as a category within the DSM, ICD and other diagnostic literature/guidance. Diagnostic categories should instead focus solely on the distress caused by a hostile social climate in relation to all non-normative identities, as opposed to labeling and pathologizing sexual inclinations.

The Registry Reform issue (and our policy)

Newgon Organization is not part of the registry reform movement, although we do support some of its goals, for example, bringing light to adverse consequences of prosecuting "sex crimes". One area where we go further than the modern registry-reform movement, is our longer-term drive towards a society that only seeks to criminalize assault or other common wrongs such as threats or blackmail, rather than "sex". In other words, we follow the anti-exceptionalist approach pioneered by Rene Guyon in the late 1940s, and advocated by Alfred Kinsey thereafter, in which no law should be written with any special regard for "sex acts" as an area of concern.

End legal discrimination against "sex offenders" (binding position)

Our second binding position is, therefore, an immediate end to discrimination against "sex offenders". This may be realized by abolition of the Sex Offender Registry and all post-conviction laws that discriminate against "sexual offenders". If crimes are to be logged on a public or private registry, this must apply to all crimes, all crimes of a particular severity (according to empirical evidence), or none at all.

The Youth issue (and our policy)

Our organization was founded in 2007 by teenage/youth MAP activists. We are a MAP and ally-led organization, and do not hide the fact that we seek to represent the interests of MAPs. Our policy positions are formed using a combination of the best available research literature on (and anecdotal knowledge of) youth perspectives. While a MAP bias will always be visible because of basic demographic realities, we also see youth rights and participation as crucial elements going forward. We often refer to the lived experiences of young people. We hold that peer-reviewed research indicates the monolithic belief system of Child Sexual Abuse is outdated and needs to be replaced with an alternative framework.

An anti-offending organization

While we maintain a reformist pro-choice position (see below) we are in favor of a non-offending lifestyle for all legal minors - referred to as "celibacy" in western erotophobic language. Sex-negative statutes, (including sex work laws) mean that legal minors may be institutionalized, criminalized and sometimes even registered for pursuing consensual relations with age peers and adults. Therefore, it is also incumbent upon adults not to offend, even if the offending aligns with their exclusive personal preferences. For both groups, we maintain that political action, co-operation, advocacy and personal development are instead, healthy and appropriate pursuits in the present climate.

Elective-12 is our (non-binding) Age of Consent position

The best available evidence supports the idea of an elective-emancipation system for young people aged 12 and up. We do not bind participants to this position.

The proposed model is in effect, a passport system where young people age 12 and up, can sign to emancipate themselves in (potentially) a variety of areas in line with their unique, evolving capacities. With respect to adults and emancipated minors, this will include legal consent to physical/sexual relations. Other important rights may be included, however, we will not campaign on most of these issues until there are signs of an emerging policy consensus:

Education
Employment [debatably inc. military]
Finance
Driving a motor vehicle
Alcohol, substances, gambling, body modifications and medical
Graphic media content bars (so-called "harmful content")
Voting (this might be dependent upon the above)

We propose that emancipation will be the choice of the young person, assuming they can be assessed by a doctor as mentally competent - broadly in line with their peers. With respect to sexual relations, the age of 12 is identical to the system employed in the Netherlands up until very recently. However, allowing young people to self emancipate gives them the power to choose what aspects of their lives they will be responsibile for. Various controlled outcome studies will be conducted by social scientists after these changes are put into effect, creating more jobs.

Inclusion/representation/gender (no defined policy)

We are inclusive, drawing upon a diverse community of people. Some of us have experienced age-discrepant relationships at different points in our lives. Others have experienced cross-generational physical attractions and accompanying social hostility. Some of us have experience of legal systems, professions and academia, pertaining to the above. We are united by the fact that we now want to pool our knowledge collaboratively, and utilize it.

Gender issues

We consulted members of our community (i.e. account-holders one the Yesmap server we finance) on gender issues - which are often seen as closely related to sexuality topics including our subject. While server members expressed the full range of opinions described in the above article when canvassed on the popular topic of transgender youth, most of us agreed that younger women/girls and adult men are the primary victims of the purity culture we collectively fight to erase.

Opinions differred on how this should, or should not be addressed in the law. For example:

Some community members have suggested laws against adults/parents who secondarily victimize youth by shaming them as regards their gender identity, sexuality or choice of personal relationships, adding that girls would be protected by such laws. Others argue that this would be a violation of family privacy, and could be abused by political lobbying groups against unwilling minors.
Some have suggested non-prosecution stipulations for women and transwomen engaged in demonstrably voluntary sexual activity with a minor that might still violate existing or revised laws. These cases may have become an unwanted topic of debate in the media, and tend to result in subjectively benign outcomes for the younger partner. Supporters of these type of laws might argue that the MAP Movement must show it is not driven by the needs of men, and cares about the treatment of women in the criminal justice system. Detractors might oppose legal discrimination in principle.

There is no consensus in the community for or against initiatives such as the above, and thus Newgon has no policy platform in this area.

Official Guidance

We occasionally publish guidance on important topics such as:

These sections will always be described as "official guidance" and are subject to group consultation - primarily within communities we support. Therefore, an official guidance section can be considered as a loosely stated organizational position on various topics, but not a central part of our platform as such.

Organizational activities

Our approach is conservative and sustainable; we describe it as "radical philosophy, moderate demands".

With respect to the broader movement, a non-dogmatic "integrative model" is highly appropriate in the early stages, widening its scope and public appeal. Newgon Organization realizes the limitations of reintroducing outward-facing pro-choice activism to the MAP discourse, as we have taken part in similar campaigning in the past - with varying levels of success. We do believe a pro-choice alternative that aggressively combats the trauma myth, is a necessary counter-balance to the present-day alternatives. We also believe that our presence will encourage participation, and foster literacy throughout a broader range of topics, serving us well in the future. With respect to the future, building a body of knowledge (NewgonWiki) continues to be our first priority.

Trust and Safety

Newgon has a set of moderation standards for social initiatives it funds. Newgon can not be held responsible for the behavior of chatserver/forum members on funded initiatives, or elsewhere, but strives to foster an inclusive environment without engaging in unnecessary censorship.

Press releases and reports

Newgon Organization occasionally publishes press releases and special reports on important topics. A list follows:

In addition to our ever-present MediaWiki-based projects, we occasionally produce information packs for dissemination to the public, and/or media - usually for the Yesmap campaign: