by Laurel Duggan

 

PayPal banned an account that draws attention to adults who expose kids to sexual content but still allows Prostasia, an organization that provides support for “minor-attracted persons” (MAPs), to hold an account and use its services to fundraise.

PayPal permanently banned the Gays Against Groomers account Tuesday, as did Venmo, which PayPal owns, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Prostasia, an organization that runs a support groups for people who are sexually attracted to children to help them avoid acts of abuse, still raises money using PayPal and lists the service on the donation page of its website.

“While we’re not allowed to conduct business on PayPal, guess who is… an organization that offers a support group for ‘MAPs,’” the Gays Against Groomers Twitter account wrote. “@PayPalbanned us for being against pedophilia, but allow actual pedophile groups to use their services unabated.”

Prostasia aims to reduce child sexual abuse through various initiatives including support for “MAPs,” whom it views as “stigmatized;” it provides chatrooms for “MAPs” to talk to each other so that they can “come to terms with their attractions in a harm-free and law-abiding way,” according to its website.

The Gays Against Groomers Twitter account, which has more than 100,000 followers, also aims to  prevent child abuse by drawing attention to instances in which children are exposed to sexual content or inappropriate relationships with adults. Jaimee Michell, who runs the account, also seeks to distance the gay community from initiatives targeting children, which she feels are causing stigma against gay people who don’t support things like drag queen story hour.

Many of the videos reshared by the Gays Against Groomers account involve transgender people, drag queen performers or efforts to transition children to the opposite sex (a practice Michell is critical of). Her account has drawn criticism from some LGBT activists who view her work as harassment against transgender people.

“Data over the past few years has shown that acceptance of the LGBT community has dropped drastically, and this is only because of the attacks on children being done by radical activists who have hijacked our community,” Michell told the DCNF. “By separating ourselves from those doing this, we aim to reverse that trend, as well as reverse the slippery slope which has unfortunately been proven to be true.”

Prostasia told the DCNF it was against child sexual abuse but did not comment on PayPal banning Gays Against Groomers.

“One of the ways that we can prevent abuse is by ensuring that mental health services are available to those who may otherwise be at risk of offending. We have zero tolerance for child sexual abuse, and have never offered any excuse to those who abuse children,” Jerry Malcolm, director of Prostasia Foundation, told the DCNF.

PayPal did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

– – –

Laurel Duggan is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. 
Photo “PayPal” by Brett Jordan.

 

 

 


Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].