The Age Taboo

The Age Taboo

The Age Taboo: Gay Male Sexuality, Power and Consent is a collection of writings about intergenerational (and especially man-boy) relationships, edited by Daniel Tsang. It was published in 1981 by Alyson Publications (Boston) and Gay Men's Press (GMP) (London).

It is an important text within the wider body of literature on man-boy love, and a full online copy can be found on library genesis in the references. Its contributions are further evidence of historical links between MAPs and the LGBT community, and the book was positively reviewed by Cindy Patton in Gay Community News.

Contents

• "Introduction," Daniel Tsang.
• "Loving men," Sylvère Lotringer and Mark Moffett.

  Cultural analyst Sylvère Lotringer interviews 15-year-old Mark Moffett about his relationships with men.

• "Loving boys," Tom Reeves.
• "Men and boys: the Boston conference," Daniel Tsang.

  Tsang reports on the 1978 Boston conference.

• "Children and sex," Youth Liberation.
• "Happy families? Pedophilia examined," Gay Left Collective.
• "Childhood sexuality and pedophilia," Jamie Gough. Archived on Ipce.
• "Whose power? Whose consent?," Eric Presland.
• "Sexual revolution and the liberation of children," Mark Blasius and Kate Millett.

  Mark Blasius questions feminist Kate Millett on the sexual freedom of children.

• "I know what I am: gay teenagers and the law," Joint Council for Gay Teenagers.
• "The case for abolishing age of consent laws," North American Man/Boy Love Association.

  An editorial originally published in NAMBLA News.

• "Sexual politics, the New Right and the sexual fringe," Gayle Rubin.
• "Recipe for a witchhunt," John Mitzel.

  Mitzel reviews the history of America's pedophile witchhunt.

• "'Lesbians Rising' editors speak out," Editors of Lesbians Rising.
• "A militant young dyke’s feminist perspective on the age of consent question," anonymous.
• "Man/boy love and the lesbian/gay movement," Pat Califia.

  Califia opines against the age-of-consent in an abridged version of her article for The Advocate.

• "Man/boy love and the Left," Roger Moody.
• "Confronting ageism," Michael Alhonte.

  An 18-year-old who began having relationships with men at 13 criticizes ageism in both the mainstream and the boylove community.

• "Struggling against racism," Daniel Tsang.
• "Resources: an annotated guide to the literature," Daniel Tsang.