There are undoubtedly misconceptions flying around about what our goals are as minor-attracted people. So, first let me be clear that different groups of minor-attracted people have different goals. There exist a substantial amount of old timers that want liberation I think is their new phrase. They want an end to MAP oppression in all its forms. They’re loud, they get attention, and they sound just as crazy to most other minor-attracted people as they do to muggles.

The rest of us, though, want freedom from oppression and support in ethically responsible ways and we’re weary of explaining that minor-attracted people are not a monolith and no, having an attraction does not mean wanting to act on the attraction or having some self-control deficit. I can’t speak for all of us. Nobody can. But I think I speak for a fair number of us when I say that we’re sick of explaining to people that we just want to live lives free from hatred. We want the ability to ask for what we need and the ability to say we are minor-attracted without hate and harassment.

That’s a pretty basic ask. We want to be treated with dignity, respect, and the benefit of the doubt. We deserve to be seen as innocent by default, not guilty by default. Most of us are just tired of the warring against our existence at every corner. The term some of us use for ourselves is used as an insult, people invent new ways of claiming what we want without asking us. We just want to live our lives in peace and get support if we need it. Is that really too much to ask?