Did the APA and DSM-5 really declare pedophilia an orientation?
If so, what in the world does this mean?
I originally saw this article in my newsfeed and became troubled by the headline.
Pedophilia Officially Classified as Sexual Orientation by American Psychology Association
But then something told me to dig deeper.
There had to be something more to this.
After surfing the Internet I found a simple explanation.
The APA DSM-5 is trying to draw a distinction between inclinations, and behavior.
Pedophilia in the DSM-5 is a disorder if it's actually acted upon.
It's an orientation if it's not acted upon.
Here is something right from the horse's mouth from the DSM5 website.
http://www.dsm5.org/Documents/Paraphilic Disorders Fact Sheet.pdf
I think our initial fear when we hear the word "orientation" applied to Pedophilia, is that somehow that will become normalized like the LGBT sinful lifestyle.
The APA DSM-5 doesn't appear to be going that far.
It's just that their hair splitting has aroused fears.
Very justified fears.
Sadly some groups that actually advocate for pedophilia are latching onto the distinction. One of those groups is B4U-ACT. You can read more about that in the link below.
Pedophilia Now Classified As A Sexual Orientation | Neon Tommy
So yes, the APA DSM-5 does appear to label it an orientation, but it's still considered a disorder. That's the other half of the story some of the hysterical news outlets and blogs are not telling you.