How Do We Proceed On All These?

24 August 2013 Last updated at 11:28 CET 

Up Next: Pedophiles Are Asking For Same Status As Homosexuals

"The Northern Colorado Gazette recently published the interviews of two Canadian psychologists, who are pushing for the idea of recognising pedophilia as a sexual orientation. One of them, Professor Van Gijseghem, a former University of Montreal academic, is reported as saying: 'Pedophiles are not simply people who commit a small offense from time to time but rather are grappling with what is equivalent to a sexual orientation just like another individual may be grappling with heterosexuality or even homosexuality.' He adds 'True pedophiles have an exclusive preference for children, which is the same as having a sexual orientation. You cannot change this person's sexual orientation. He may, however, remain abstinent.'

The other psychologist, Dr. Quincey, Emeritus professor at Queen's University, also contends that 'There is no evidence that this sort of preference can be changed through treatment or through anything else', thus asserting Van Gijsegham's position that homosexuality is a sexual orientation. In tow are Harvard University Health publications, particularly their July 2010 edition, which states 'Pedophilia is a sexual orientation and unlikely to change. Treatment aims to enable someone to resist acting on his sexual urges.' There are other bodies that are likely to join in as the debate rages on."

http://www.modernghana.com/news/484555/1/up-next-pedophiles-are-asking-for-same-status-as-h.html

What A Gay Day

Published: 1 day ago

'Gay' laws set stage for pedophilia 'rights'

"Psychologist claims 'minor-attracted persons' normal [sic] as heterosexuals

As legislators and other government officials promote “gay” friendly laws, they are unwittingly laying the foundation for special protections for pedophiles, including the right to work with children, family advocates warn.

Linda Harvey of Mission America said the push for equal rights for pedophiles will become more common as LGBT groups continue to assert themselves."

http://www.wnd.com/2013/07/gay-laws-set-stage-for-pedophilia-rights

*****

Why Queers Should Care About Sex Offenders

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-extein-msw/why-queers-should-care-about-sex-offenders_b_3386970.html

Paedophilia Is Not An Action, Richard - It Cannot Be Chosen, No More Than Your Sexuality May Be Chosen

Tuesday, 2 July 2013

"Paedophilia Is A Treatable Illness [sic]"

"These people need help, and they should be offered it before they seek out child pornography – or, even worse, act out their sick fantasies "

Ignoring the highly offensive language that this article contains, (again with the CP term!), this article I feel really needs a posting about it. There are some statements in here and the easiest way for me to write a post about it is to raise them individually - all points and views being my own of course, I speak here based on my own thoughts."

"Apologies for going off tangent towards the end and detracting from the article, but it is time we stop making excuses for paedophiles [sic] and their crimes [there are no 'paedophile crimes', only some very rare crimes, carried out by clinical paedophiles]. They alone are responsible for their actions [possibly, but, see the title], and thus they alone should pay the price for their actions [all illegal acts are prosecuted, by definition]. No-one has a gun to their head telling them to abuse children or download indecent images [not quite a gun, at times, no]. They choose. [but, that is not what a Paedophile is, Richard

"How long before your taxes are being paid to these "poor" paedophiles who are afflicted with their "disability / mental illness" by way of benefits? [they are, already, Richard ... do you have a problem supporting the disabled?]

How long before LGBT has another letter added to it - P? [relatively soon, we believe] The more that society tries to reclassify this crime as a "disorder", the more that society accepts this as an "illness", the nearer this day will come. Mark my words. [no, quite the opposite ... it is when it is totally-demedicalised (just like homosexuality was, etc), that time will come, as it was before.]"

http://jerseyric.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/paedophilia-is-treatable-illness.html

The Present, Dominant Narrative, Is Not Reality, Sean

Last updated: July 1st, 2013

Why is it OK for us to enjoy Caravaggio's paedophile [sic] art?

"Take a look at the painting above [careful, now]. It is St John the Baptist, commonly acknowledged as a masterpiece by one of history’s greatest artists, Caravaggio. Painted in 1603, it usually hangs in the Pinacoteca Capitolina in Rome, but this summer it is on loan to Siena Cathedral: which is where I saw it, last week, amongst a queue of art-lovers.

Now hold this image in your mind, and head north. A few weeks ago the veteran English artist Graham Ovenden was given a suspended sentence, by Plymouth Crown Court, after he was found guilty of six charges of indecency with underage girls. Ovenden’s particular crime was to molest the young models who posed nude for his paintings.

What is your reaction to the Ovenden case? [it is all persecutory madness, of course]. Possibly you feel that the sentence was too lenient [hardly]. The Guardian newspaper, amongst others, demanded a more severe punishment. The Attorney General is now revisiting the case, with an eye to putting Ovenden behind bars.

In the light of Ovenden’s crimes, many have also reacted against Ovenden’s art. The Tate gallery has removed the painter’s work from its walls and website. It’s very difficult to imagine a mainstream newspaper printing the more explicit images.

All right and proper, you might say: the art is obscene [indecency, Sean, indecency] . And created by a paedophile [sic].

But look again at that Caravaggio masterpiece at the top of this blog. Experts believe that the boy who modelled for this painting was one of Caravaggio’s young assistants. Historians further believe that Caravaggio was sexually involved with this prepubescent boy. That’s disquieting, isn’t it? [no]

The evidence for this relationship, between the artist and his subject, actually comes from another Caravaggio masterpiece, Victorious Cupid, which shows the same assistant in a different pose. Victorious Cupid was notorious even in its own time, when contemporaries confirmed that the subject was the "boy that laid with Caravaggio". How do I know all this? Because I read it in an essay in, yes, the Guardian, which eagerly praised this paedophile [sic] painting, and its pedophile [sic] creator, exactly nine days before the same paper demanded the imprisonment of a paedophile [sic] painter, known for his paedophile [sic] paintings.

You see the dissonance, of course [not at all, we are more than comfortable with the reality]. On the one hand we are horrified by the evils [sic] of paedophilia [sic, are we?]. Yet we queue to see blatantly paedophile art [sic]. Perhaps such art is acceptable if it is by dead people? But how dead do they have to be? Centuries? Decades? Weeks? Will Graham Ovenden go back in the Tate, as soon as he passes away?

All this raises a further, more profound [?] dilemma [?]. Sexual morality is perceived as an absolute [who says?]: we all believe pedophilia [sic] is absolutely wrong (and I agree) [well, we do not, and so do many others]. Yet sexual morality also evolves over time [indeed], in complex ways: hence our confusion [sic] about these artworks. And sexual morality evolves quickly [indeed, sometimes, it has not really changed at all].

No one knows this better than Harriet Harman, who was a legal officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties in the 1970s, when they believed in the legalisation of paedophile sex [sic, not quite]. I can’t imagine her going near a group which evangelised such a position today [no, such is hypocrisy, Liberty too].

So how can we be sure that our sexual morality won’t evolve again? [if it has changed at all]

If anything, history tells us that it will change, and not in directions we expect – we may decide that homosexuality is wrong after all [you have decided it is 'right'?]; we may decide that pederasty is excellent, like the Ancient Greeks; we may prohibit fornication, or prostitution, or make pornography compulsory. It’s a disturbing idea [it is a glorious idea]. But then, Caravaggio’s great painting of St John the Baptist is also rather disturbing [why?]. Once you know the back story."

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/seanthomas/100224127/why-is-it-ok-for-us-to-enjoy-caravaggios-paedophile-art/

Graham Ovenden: 'Unduly lenient' sentence to be reviewed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-23133979

Graham Ovenden sex crimes: Artist gets suspended jail term

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-22763701

*****

Sean Thomas

Sean Thomas is a novelist, journalist and travel writer. He also publishes thrillers under the name Tom Knox. He is currently writing a memoir of his extremely misspent youth, and similarly misspent adulthood, and tweets under the name @thomasknox.

https://twitter.com/thomasknox

*****

Society's lenience belongs with Graham Ovenden's child portraits – in the past

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/06/graham-ovenden-child-portraits-lenience

*****

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Graham Ovenden Not Guilty of Indecency Involving Witness JB

http://artist-on-trial.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/Graham-Ovenden-Not-Guilty-Of-Indecency.html

*****

3:33pm UK, Wednesday 09 October 2013

Artist Ovenden Jailed Over Child Sex Offences

http://news.sky.com/story/1152301/artist-ovenden-jailed-over-child-sex-offences

A Veritable Curate's Egg

6:55AM BST 01 Jul 2013

Paedophilia is a treatable illness [sic]

"These people need help [some do, yes], and they should be offered it before they seek out child pornography – or, even worse, act out their sick [sic] fantasies [any evidence?].

Those who recognise they have paedophile tendencies [sic] are more likely to come forward if they know they will be offered treatment, rather than be treated as criminals before they’ve committed a crime [possibly].

Child pornography is an evil [sic] that we all want to see eradicated [no we all do not], and it is right that the Government is putting pressure on internet providers to block such images. Speaking at the Whitehall ''summit’’ of web companies last month, Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, said “the industry has to take action’’. Pressure from ministers would be unrelenting. Yet the Government’s response shows a naivety about the internet and a startling ignorance about how paedophiles [sic] operate.

There is a clear [is there?] distinction between the different groups (mostly men) who view child pornography.

Research [which?] shows that one group – the ''incidental’’ viewers – access illegal images through conventional search engines. They may harbour underlying paedophiliac fantasies [sic] that have been repressed [sic] or ignored [sic].

The common spiral [sic] is that they start by consuming adult pornography that is legal but which may present adults as teenagers. As they search for more of this type of material, they come across illegal images [sic] involving children. In an aroused state [!] and with their judgment impaired [!], they then seek out similar images and so are drawn into viewing ever more child pornography ... [OK, we can go with that, for some]"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/10149574/Paedophilia-is-a-treatable-illness.html

Comment:

Actually, there is some good stuff in there, Max is just compelled, to still, follow the dominant narrative.

As is often the case, Max, being gay, appears to have developed a historical and rational blockage, of the fact, that, not so very long ago, homosexuality was a treatable illness (and still is, in some quarters) ... although, Max does get a little defensive, on Twitter, on the issue.

The OSC

*****

Max Pemberton

http://www.maxpemberton.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Pemberton_(doctor)

https://twitter.com/MaxPemberton

Accused Headmaster Turned Me Homosexual - Possible?

May 11, 2013 12:00AM

Accused headmaster turned me into pedophile, says convicted cleric PG

"A CLERGYMAN who allegedly raped boys at a north Queensland boarding school in the 1960s has claimed he was ordered to take female hormones by his headmaster, who encouraged the "romantic love" of children among staff.

Former Anglican brother PG - sentenced to seven years' jail in 2006 for the rape and indecent assault of children in the 1980s in South Australia - has blamed St Barnabas headmaster the late RW for turning him into a pedophile."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/accused-headmaster-turned-me-into-pedophile-says-convicted-cleric-peter-gilbert/story-e6frg6nf-1226639753814

Robert Waddington’s Legacy (Or: He Made Me Do It, Sir)

http://lewisblayse.net/2013/05/13/robert-waddingtons-legacy-or-he-made-me-do-it-sir/

MAP Required

The sexual orientation, erotic interests, ethical opinions, and life experiences of men and women with a sexual interest in young persons

"We are the Human Sexuality Lab in the Department of Psychology at Northwestern University. We are conducting a research study to study the sexual orientation, erotic interests, ethical opinions, and life experiences of men and women with a sexual interest in young persons (typically persons aged 14 and younger).

If you agree to participate, you will be asked to complete the questionnaire on the following pages online, on a computer of your choice. The questionnaire should take no more than thirty (30) minutes to complete and begins on the following page. Please answer all the items as honestly as possible. When you are finished, click the submit button."

J. Michael Bailey
Northwestern University Department of Psychology
jm-bailey@northwestern.edu

https://nwpsych.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1TSSDRFUU3tO5RX

Here's The Thing - There Are MAAs/MAP/Paedophiles Who Are Gay/Bi/Trans - There Are Gay/Bi/Trans MAAs/MAP/Paedophiles

April 5, 2013, 2:34 PM 11042

Ben Carson Apologizes For Anti-Gay Remarks [sic] After Rebuke From Hopkins Dean

"Dr. Ben Carson receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008Dr. Ben Carson receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2008

Dr. Ben Carson offered a detailed apology on Friday for making anti-gay [sic] remarks in a Fox News appearance. The statement came just minutes after the Dean of Johns Hopkins University’s medical faculty publicly rebuked him over the incident.

Carson, the longtime director of pediatric neurosurgery at JHU, had previously offered up a “sorry — if you were offended” style non-apology for his interview with Sean Hannity. In that appearance, Carson said that opposite-sex marriage was “a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality — it doesn’t matter what they are. They don’t get to change the definition.” He later went on to blame the resulting controversy in part on “racist” white liberals who wanted to keep him on a “plantation.”

But his new statement to the Hopkins community, obtained by New York Magazine, abandoned the defensive posture in favor of an out-and-out apology."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2013/04/ben-carson-apologizes.php

Comment:

Truth needs no apology, sir.

The OSC 

*****

04.05.2013

Pedophilia accusations haunt Green politician

"Green Party politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit has been accused of pedophilia. In the early years of the party, "free sexuality" with children was discussed - and it now appears the loose morals have come back to haunt them.

Involvement of questionable groups

Jupiter und Ganymed fresco In other eras and societies, sexual activity between adults and youth was considered acceptable.

There were indeed groups, in the formative years of the Green Party, which openly sought to liberalize and decriminalize sex with children. The "Urban Indians" group was one, as was the "Working Group on Gays and Pederasts.""

http://www.dw.de/pedophilia-accusations-haunt-green-politician/a-16791213

Greens to investigate old paedophilia claims

http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20130514-49687.html#.UZSjoEq-j8k

Of Course - Duh

February 7, 2013

Pedophilia Is A Sexual Orientation Under CA Bill

"Congresswoman, Rep. Jackie Speier CA (D), wants to federalize a state law to prohibit counseling to change a person’s sexual orientation. That doesn’t sound that extreme, but pedophilia is a sexual orientation according to this bill as well.

Under the bill’s language, a mental health counselor could be sanctioned if there was an attempt to get a pedophile or gay individual to change his behavior or speak negatively about their behavior as it relates to sexuality.

The bill calls on states to prohibit efforts to change a minor’s sexual orientation, even if the minor requests it, saying that doing so is “dangerous and harmful.”

The text of the legislation doesn’t specifically ban “gay” conversion therapy. Instead, it prohibits attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation.

“Sexual orientation change efforts’ means any practices by mental health providers that seek to change an individual’s sexual orientation,” the bill says.

Republicans attempted to add an amendment specifying that, “pedophilia is not covered as an orientation.” However, the Democrats defeated the amendment. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) stated that all alternative sexual lifestyles should be protected under the law, and accordingly decided that pedophilia is a sexual orientation that should be equally as embraced as homosexuality.

“This language is so broad and vague, it arguably could include all forms of sexual orientation, including pedophilia,” said Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute. “It’s not just the orientation that is protected—the conduct associated with the orientation is protected as well.”"

http://www.rethinksociety.com/government/pedophilia-is-a-sexual-orientation-under-ca-bill

Lowell Feld, DPVA Defends Pedophilia; Calls Opposition an “Extreme Social Agenda”

http://bearingdrift.com/2013/04/04/lowell-feld-dpva-defends-pedophilia-calls-it-an-extreme-social-agenda/

Slippery slope – Pedophilia is protected sexual orientation under CA bill

http://veneremurcernui.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/slippery-slope-pedophilia-is-protected-sexual-orientation-under-ca-bill/

Does a California bill really classify pedophilia as a “sexual orientation”?

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2013/04/does-a-california-bill-really-classify-pedophilia-as-a-sexual-orientation/

Require Serious Adjustments To The Framework Of Either Of These Two Systems

Published January 21, 2013

Pedophilia, Preemptive Imprisonment, and the Ethics of Predisposition

"The first two weeks of 2013 were marked by a flurry of news articles considering “the new science” of pedophilia [sic]. Alan Zarembo’s article for the Los Angeles Times focused on the increasing consensus among researchers that pedophilia [sic] is a biological predisposition similar to heterosexuality or homosexuality. Rachel Aviv’s piece for The New Yorker shed light upon the practice of ‘civil commitment’ in the US, a process by which inmates may be kept in jail past their release date if a panel decides that they are at risk of molesting a child (even if there is no evidence that they have in the past). The Guardian’s Jon Henley quoted sources suggesting that perhaps some pedophilic [sic] relationships aren’t all that harmful after all. And Rush Limbaugh chimed in comparing the ‘normalization’ of pedophilia [sic] to the historical increase in the acceptance of homosexuality, suggesting that recognizing pedophilia [sic] as a sexual orientation would be tantamount to condoning child molestation."

http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2013/01/pedophilia-preemptive-imprisonment-and-the-ethics-of-predisposition/

Minuscule Effect On The Incidence Of Rape

December 24, 2012

Castration is not the right legal response

"Even the most ardent supporters of chemical castration recognise that administration of anti-androgens without relevant therapies defeats the point of the entire exercise. Given the significant side-effects of chemical castration, a law that would require indefinite administration of anti-androgens for sex offenders is likely to be unconstitutional. Even if the argument is that governments must invest in chemical castration even if it means a minuscule effect on the incidence of rape, it would require State governments to put in place a rigorous system of providing therapy for it to be a constitutional option. Given the condition of state health care services in India, there are very good reasons to be sceptical about the feasibility of providing such therapy."

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/castration-is-not-the-right-legal-response/article4232547.ece 

Mon Dec 31 2012, 12:14 hrs

The medical punishment for rape

"Chemical castration, one of the provisions in the draft bill being finalised by the Congress for tackling crimes against women, is a medical procedure that reduces sexual urges and arousal in a human being, whether a man or woman. The introduction of chemicals hampers the functioning of the circulating sex hormones, and makes a man incapable of rape.

One of the earliest and most famous subjects of chemical castration was mathematician Alan Turing, the man who defined algorithms and fathered a prototype of the computer. He was punished in 1952 for homosexuality, then a crime in the UK."

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-/1052257/

Scalia - Moral Entrepreneur ... Harm Is Not The Issue

December 11, 2012

Justice Antonin Scalia compares homosexuality to murder

"Presumably, Scalia will not be one of the justices voting to uphold the constitutionality of same-sex marriage ...

"If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder?""

http://theweek.com/article/index/237640/justice-antonin-scalia-compares-homosexuality-to-murder

Wednesday, December 12, 2012 

Sodomy, murder bans parallel in Scalia's thinking

"In a world that is embracing moral relativism, Justice Scalia is a voice for the reality that there are things that are true and there are things that are not true," the Liberty Counsel attorney continues. He points out that every major religion for thousands of years has frowned on homosexual behavior. In fact, he adds, there are laws against it in many countries."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2012/12/12/sodomy-murder-parallel

'Teenage Innocence'

Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012, at 11:41 AM ET

Stop Calling KC a Pedophile

"Of course, while these relationships may be consensual in spirit, they are against the law depending on the somewhat arbitrary determination of what constitutes the “age of consent” in each state. Still, I know many gay men who have been on the younger end of this kind of situation; many only look back on it with fondness, gratitude, or sometimes even condescension at the silly old people they used to get rides and alcohol. Of course, power imbalances are real, and others come out damaged. Experiences differ.

Again, I’m not necessarily defending these kinds of relationships—they are clearly fraught and have the potential for terrible outcomes. But our weird cultural investment in teenage “innocence” has led many to ignore the specifics of the C case and unjustly paint the man as a pedophile. The ethical landscape is much muddier than the coverage of and reaction to C would lead you to believe."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/12/11/kevin_clash_allegations_sex_with_underage_teens_does_not_equal_pedophelia.html

What A Gay Day

December 10, 2012

A divide on 'conversion therapy' law

"Two rulings take opposite views. But the law doesn't muzzle opinion; it controls conduct."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-gay-conversion-therapy-20121210,0,7593011.story

PUBLISHED: 15:29, 10 December 2012 | UPDATED: 17:02, 10 December 2012

Mormon ex-lesbian on how she's happily married to a man as she tries to free others from 'overwhelming same-sex desires'

"A happily-married Mormon mother of three who, 30 years ago, was living her life as a lesbian, is speaking out about same-sex attraction on a new website created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Laurie Campbell, 52, who considers her earlier life as a lesbian a sin, hopes to give other Mormons the tools to overcome their homosexual desires by speaking out on her own successful marriage to a man.

She told Deseret News: 'I'm reaching out to those who are not happy with their orientation, who don't want to be gay, and who want to free themselves from overwhelming desires that create conflict.'"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2245864/Mormon-ex-lesbian-shes-happily-married-man-tries-free-overwhelming-sex-desires.html

December 11th 2012, 1:17 pm

Nigeria pushes “Jail the Gays” bill

"While the world is focused on Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill, the Nigerian House of Representatives has unanimously approved even more sweeping and draconian homophobic legislation, the “Jail the Gays” bill. It could become law within weeks."

http://hurryupharry.org/2012/12/11/nigeria-pushes-jail-the-gays-bill/

December 11, 2012

Study finds epigenetics, not genetics, underlies homosexuality

"Epigenetics – how gene expression is regulated by temporary switches, called epi-marks – appears to be a critical and overlooked factor contributing to the long-standing puzzle of why homosexuality occurs. According to the study, published online today in The Quarterly Review of Biology, sex-specific epi-marks, which normally do not pass between generations and are thus "erased," can lead to homosexuality when they escape erasure and are transmitted from father to daughter or mother to son.

From an evolutionary standpoint, homosexuality is a trait that would not be expected to develop and persist in the face of Darwinian natural selection. Homosexuality is nevertheless common for men and women in most cultures. Previous studies have shown that homosexuality runs in families, leading most researchers to presume a genetic underpinning of sexual preference. However, no major gene for homosexuality has been found despite numerous studies searching for a genetic connection."

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-epigenetics-genetics-underlies-homosexuality.html

Scientists claim that homosexuality is not genetic — but it arises in the womb

http://io9.com/5967426/scientists-confirm-that-homosexuality-is-not-genetic--but-it-arises-in-the-womb?post=55128370

Epigenetics might explain evolutionary puzzle of homosexuality

http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20121111224454data_trunc_sys.shtml

Can Epigenetics Explain Homosexuality? 

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/33773/title/Can-Epigenetics-Explain-Homosexuality-/

Study: There is no “gay gene”

http://www.salon.com/2012/12/11/study_there_is_no_gay_gene/

What we know—and don't know—about the biology of homosexuality

http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/12/what-we-knowand-dont-knowabout-the-biology-of-homosexuality/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arstechnica%2Findex+%28Ars+Technica+-+All+content%29

*****

02 October 2013

Ethics: Taboo genetics 

"Probing the biological basis of certain traits ignites controversy. But some scientists choose to cross the red line anyway."

http://www.nature.com/news/ethics-taboo-genetics-1.13858

Rage

Thursday 8 November 2012 18.51 GMT

Gay barman was killed by teenager in panicked frenzy after sexual encounter

"Ryan Esquierdo, 19, admits strangling Stuart Walker, 28, and setting his body alight after pair met by chance on walk home

The brutal killing of Stuart Walker left the town of Cumnock in shock.

A teenager has admitted killing a gay barman and then setting his body alight after he flew into a rage when they discussed his confused sexuality.

Ryan Esquierdo, 19, attacked Stuart Walker, 28, and choked him to death after the pair had met one night while they were separately walking home in Cumnock, East Ayrshire, in October last year.

Esquierdo confessed that he had fallen into an "uncontrollable rage" after Walker, who worked in a local hotel bar, had tried to comfort him after he admitted being unsure about his sexuality. The two men then had sexual relations in a local industrial estate, sparking off a violent, sustained attack on Walker by Esquierdo, who then set Walker's body alight to conceal the evidence and then lied to police about the attack."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/nov/08/gay-barman-killed-teenager-frenzy

Teen killed gay barman in ‘uncontrollable rage’ and then set body on fire, court hears

http://www.scotsman.com/news/scottish-news/top-stories/teen-killed-gay-barman-in-uncontrollable-rage-and-then-set-body-on-fire-court-hears-1-2621946

Ryan Esquierdo admits killing Stuart Walker in Cumnock 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-20251281

All In The Mind

Posted October 24, 2012

The neuroscience of sexual attractions

"A recent edition of radio programme KERA Think has a fantastic discussion on development and the neuroscience of sexual attraction in its many forms.

The programme is a discussion with Simon LeVay, a neuroscientist who raised a lot of eyebrows by finding differences in the brain structure of gay and straight men in a 1991 study.

The science has massively advanced since then and LeVay gives a fascinating and lucid account of what know about the biology of the rainbow of sexual attraction – and where the mysteries still lie.

Link to programme page with streamed audio. mp3 of podcast."

http://mindhacks.com/2012/10/24/the-neuroscience-of-sexual-attractions/

October 26, 2012

Neurotransmitters linked to mating behavior are shared by mammals and worms

"When it comes to sex, animals of all shapes and sizes tend behave in predictable ways. There may be a chemical reason for that. New research from Rockefeller University has shown that chemicals in the brain—neuropeptides known as vasopressin and oxytocin—play a role in coordinating mating and reproductive behavior in animals ranging from humans to fish to invertebrates."

http://phys.org/news/2012-10-neurotransmitters-linked-behavior-mammals-worms.html

Nov. 09, 2012

Neuroscientist Larry Young on Sex, Drugs & Love Among Voles

"He doesn’t claim to have the answer for why fools fall in love, but psychiatrist Larry Young hopes studying prairie voles will help.

The Emory University professor studies the differences between species of voles with very different sexual preferences: the montane voles are the serial daters and cheaters of their world, engaging primarily in promiscuous relationships, while prairie voles are more monogamous.

By studying their brain chemistry, Young is hoping to expose the biology of fidelity and cheating, and the role that the so-called love hormone oxytocin plays in the way the voles make and break romantic relationships. TIME talked with him about his new book, The Chemistry Between Us: Love, Sex and the Science of Attraction."

http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/09/qa-neuroscientist-larry-young-on-sex-drugs-love-among-voles/#ixzz2Bltg5de9

*****

Securing Real Love: Three Chemicals That Make Us Feel We’re In Love, 1 of 3

"The science of couples love is a fascinating study of human nature – perhaps at its best and worst.

Human beings get unhinged about a lot of things, yet nothing seems to compare to the actions of desperation, and the emotional roller coasters in the dance of romance."

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/relationships/2013/10/securing-a-love-relationship-three-chemicals-that-make-us-were-in-love-1-of-3/

*****

October 19, 2013

Love and lust have distinct but interlocking brain signatures

">Brain imaging is revealing the distinct but interlocking patterns of neural activation associated with lust and love.
>Lust is most likely grounded in the concrete sensations of the given moment. Love is a more abstract gloss on our experiences with another person.
>Imaging is also helping to decipher the disorders of lust, including anorgasmia. Dozens of discrete regions across the brain fire at the point of orgasm—suggesting many different ways to develop anorgasmia.

People often think of love and lust as polar opposites—love exalted as the binder of two souls, lust the transient devil on our shoulders, disturbing and disruptive. Now neuroscientists are discovering that lust and love work together more closely than we think. Indeed, the strongest relationships have elements of both."

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lust-sexual-desire-forges-lasting-relationships