From a 2002 Advocate article:
In macho culture, lusting after barely legal girls is considered the mark of a robust libido. In fact, under the right circumstances, a man who has sex with a minor can inspire a certain admiration. Consider the male gym teacher from the Bronx who ran off with his 15-year-old female student a few years back, leading police on a cross-country chase. The tabloids were riveted by this story; the New York Daily News even dubbed the rogue instructor "Classanova," alluding to one of history’s greatest lovers. No one called the perp an ephebophile.
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But what about sex between two minors? In some states, that’s not a crime; in others, the law allows for leniency when the partners are close in age–but not if they’re the same sex.
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The greatest casualty of the child abuse panic is nonsexual relationships between gay men and youths. Now a teen must think twice before trusting such a friend, lest tongues start to wag. The teen could suffer social ostracism, and the man might risk arrest.
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