Yesterday the American Family Association (AFA) sent out a press release which erroneously claimed that “[The American Psychiatric Association] stated that they now classify pedophilia as a sexual orientation or preference instead of as a disorder.”

The AFA, an anti-LGBT hate group, has a history of trying to link homosexuality to pedophilia.  Not surprisingly, AFA’s press release went on to quote its “cultural expert and talk show host” Sandy Rios as saying:

Just as the American Psychiatric Association declared homosexuality an ‘orientation’ under tremendous pressure from homosexual activists in the early seventies, now, under pressure from pedophile activists, they have declared the desire for sex with children an ‘orientation,’ too. It’s not hard to see where this will lead. More children will become sexual prey.

Sanity will never return to this culture until truth is reclaimed. It is not now, nor has it ever been acceptable for men or women to desire sex with children. Any who struggle with this must at least know that it is wrong before they can combat it and seek change.

Numerous anti-LGBT outlets wasted no time in propagated the hate-motivated misinformation, including the magazine Charisma, which caters to Pentecostals and charismatics, and Family Policy Institute of Washington.

In response to AFA’s claims, the American Psychiatric Association has released a statement saying that “APA considers pedophilic disorder a “paraphilia,” not a “sexual orientation.”

To Charisma‘s credit, it has posted a follow-up story which questions the accuracy of AFA’s original claims, although it does not yet acknowledge American Psychiatric Association’s clarifying statement.

As of the time this blog was posted, AFA has failed to retract their erroneous statement.  Family Policy Institute of Washington has likewise failed to acknowledge that their own statement that “American Psychological Association classifies pedophilia as a sexual orientation rather than a disorder” is in error.