Spring Break
NAMBLA is ... real?
Colin Megill
Issue date: 3/16/05 Section: Commentary
I think my favorite episode of "South Park" has to be when Cartman joins the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) and almost gets him and all his friends molested by 40-year-old men. Hysterical. But it wasn't until recently that I discovered the startling truth behind the episode: NAMBLA is real.
For those who haven't seen the episode, here's one scene in which a group of NAMBLA members attempts to liberate two child molesters from prison:
NAMBLA Leader: We demand you release these men at once!
Officer Barbrady: Who are you?!
NAMBLA Leader: We are NAMBLA! The North American Man-Boy Love Association and we heard about these political prisoners you're keeping!
Barbrady: Political prisoners?! No! These are child molesters!
NAMBLA Leader: Loving young boys has been around since the time of the Romans, pal! There's nothing wrong with it! We are an organization dedicated to showing that sex between a man and a young boy can be a beautiful thing!
NAMBLA Members: YEAH!
Barbrady: Uh, I don't know who you are, but these men aren't going anywhere until I hear from the FBI.
NAMBLA Leader: All these men wanted was to love a young boy! There is nothing wrong with love!
Barbrady: Wow! They got activists for everything these days.
When I learned NAMBLA was real, I immediately hit up Google for their web site. I thought the creators of "South Park" must have been exaggerating as there's no way an organization could be dedicated to the cause they imply. But as it turns out, most of the dialogue of the NAMBLA leader and members in the episode was pulled conceptually verbatim off of www.nambla.org.
Here's the headline at the top of the page: "NAMBLA's membership is open to everyone sympathetic to personal freedom. Our goal is to end the oppression of men and boys who have freely chosen, mutually consensual relationships."
And here's one of the inspiring quotes they've posted on their homepage by someone name David Thorstad: "Freedom is indivisible. The liberation of children, women, boy-lovers, and homosexuals in general, can occur only as complementary facets of the same dream."
For those who haven't seen the episode, here's one scene in which a group of NAMBLA members attempts to liberate two child molesters from prison:
NAMBLA Leader: We demand you release these men at once!
Officer Barbrady: Who are you?!
NAMBLA Leader: We are NAMBLA! The North American Man-Boy Love Association and we heard about these political prisoners you're keeping!
Barbrady: Political prisoners?! No! These are child molesters!
NAMBLA Leader: Loving young boys has been around since the time of the Romans, pal! There's nothing wrong with it! We are an organization dedicated to showing that sex between a man and a young boy can be a beautiful thing!
NAMBLA Members: YEAH!
Barbrady: Uh, I don't know who you are, but these men aren't going anywhere until I hear from the FBI.
NAMBLA Leader: All these men wanted was to love a young boy! There is nothing wrong with love!
Barbrady: Wow! They got activists for everything these days.
When I learned NAMBLA was real, I immediately hit up Google for their web site. I thought the creators of "South Park" must have been exaggerating as there's no way an organization could be dedicated to the cause they imply. But as it turns out, most of the dialogue of the NAMBLA leader and members in the episode was pulled conceptually verbatim off of www.nambla.org.
Here's the headline at the top of the page: "NAMBLA's membership is open to everyone sympathetic to personal freedom. Our goal is to end the oppression of men and boys who have freely chosen, mutually consensual relationships."
And here's one of the inspiring quotes they've posted on their homepage by someone name David Thorstad: "Freedom is indivisible. The liberation of children, women, boy-lovers, and homosexuals in general, can occur only as complementary facets of the same dream."