Association with NAMBLA
Ginsberg also spoke out in defense of the freedom of expression of the
North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA).
[20] He defended his membership by stating:
"Attacks on NAMBLA stink of politics, witchhunting for profit, humorlessness, vanity, anger and ignorance."
In "Thoughts on NAMBLA", a 1994 essay published in the collection
Deliberate Prose, Ginsberg stated, "I joined NAMBLA in defense of free speech." In the essay, he referred to NAMBLA "as a forum for reform of those laws on youthful sexuality which members deem oppressive, a discussion society not a sex club." Ginsberg expressed the opinion that the appreciation of youthful bodies and "the human form divine" has been a common theme throughout history, "from Rome's Vatican, to Florence's Uffizi galleries, to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art". Essentially, Ginsberg felt that laws regarding the issue needed to be more openly discussed and that NAMBLA provided a "platform of debate."
[21]