French culture minister stands his ground, warns against confusing pedophilia with homosexuality

The uproar started with the French culture minister defending Roman Polanski following the filmmaker's arrest in Zurich, but has now escalated to insinuations that Frederic Mitterand is a pedophile.

Calls are mounting for his resignation, especially by political rivals, over a passage he wrote in a book in 2005 describing how he paid for sex with “boys” in Thailand. But the minister said he will not resign.

Mitterand, who is openly gay, appeared on French television channel TF1 to defend himself against accusations that he had sex with young boys or that he committed "sexually deviant acts," saying he may have erred in the past but that he never committed any crime. He also condemned sexual tourism, calling it a disgrace.

The word choice of “garcon,” meaning boy, in a passage in his semi-autobiographical, semi-fictional book, “The Bad Life,” is at the core of the issue. Mitterand insisted that his sexual partners were of age and not “little boys.” He called for people not to “confuse pedophilia with homosexuality.”

One well-quoted passage from the book reads: “The profusion of very attractive boys, immediately available, put me in a state of desire that I no longer had to restrain or conceal.”

Mitterand, who joined Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP government earlier this year, is the nephew of former left-leaning Socialist French president, Francois Mitterand. The far-right wing National Front is seeking Mitterand's resignation and some Socialist party leaders have also been critical. The minister, who is standing his ground, said he met with his boss, the president, and has Sarkozy's support.

The French magazine, Le Nouvel Observateur, reported that the president previously read the book and did not have a problem with it, even calling the work "courageous and talented."

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/france/091009/french-culture-minister-under-scrutiny-sex-boys-passage-2005-book-0