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2026-07-10T13:09:42Z

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	[[Category:History]]		[[Category:History]]

LGBT-HP: Created page with "The '''Paedophile Information Exchange''' (PIE) was a British pro-paedophile activist group, founded in October 1974 and officially disbanded in 1984. It is documented in LG..."

2026-04-01T19:21:39Z

Created page with "The '''Paedophile Information Exchange''' (PIE) was a British pro-paedophile activist group, founded in October 1974 and officially disbanded in 1984. It is documented in LG..."

New page

The '''Paedophile Information Exchange''' (PIE) was a British pro-paedophile activist
group, founded in October 1974 and officially disbanded in 1984. It is documented in
LGBT history because of its attempts to infiltrate gay rights organisations during the
1970s — attempts that were ultimately rejected by the mainstream gay rights movement.

==Background==
PIE was founded at a time when the age of consent for homosexual activity in the UK was
21 — considerably higher than the heterosexual age of consent — meaning gay rights
organisations were actively campaigning against discriminatory age of consent laws.
Pro-paedophile activists attempted to exploit this campaign, falsely conflating the
case for an equal age of consent with their own agenda of abolishing the age of consent
entirely <ref>The age of consent for homosexuals was reduced to 18 in 1994 and equalised
at 16 in 2001.</ref>.

==Activities==
In 1975, 23-year-old Keith Hose became chairman of PIE. The group's stated aim was
"to alleviate [the] suffering of many adults and children" by campaigning to abolish
the age of consent, thus legalising sex between adults and children <ref>Wolmar,
Christian (27 February 2014). "Looking back to the great British paedophile infiltration
campaign of the 1970s." The Independent.</ref>. Hose's attendance at the 1975 annual
conference of the [[Campaign for Homosexual Equality]] (CHE) in [[Sheffield]], at which
he made a speech on paedophilia, was covered at length in The Guardian.

The '''Paedophile Action for Liberation''' (PAL), a related group, was based at 78
Railton Road, [[Brixton]], before relocating to Vauxhall <ref>Gay News issue 66 'PAL
Plans' and issue 71 reporting move to Vauxhall.</ref>.

[[File:Uluspring1980LSEarchives.jpg|thumb|right|ULU Gaysoc 1980 events included a
speaker on the topic of Pedophilia (LSE archives)]]

A leaflet distributed by the [[Gay Activists Alliance]] at the [[CHE]] Conference in
1979 supported paedophilia <ref>Caged Anger: the Prosecutions of Paedophiles. A
double-sided A4 leaflet published by the London Gay Activists Alliance, in LSE HCA
HCA/Ephemera/1079.</ref>, and the [[Gay Youth Movement]] also publicly supported it
at this time.

==Rejection and disbandment==
Gay rights organisations ultimately rejected and condemned PIE's attempts at
infiltration. The [[Campaign for Homosexual Equality]] and the [[Gay Liberation Front]]
both distanced themselves from the group. PIE was officially disbanded in 1984, partly
as a result of increased legal pressure and partly due to its rejection by the mainstream
gay rights movement.

==Historical context==
The historical conflation of homosexuality with paedophilia was — and remains — a
central homophobic trope, used to discredit LGBT people and the broader campaign for
equal rights. PIE's presence at the fringes of some early gay rights spaces was
exploited by opponents of gay equality and does not reflect the values or aims of the
LGBT community.

The BBC Radio 4 series ''In Dark Corners'', presented by Alex Renton, examined how
advocates of paedophilia attempted to infiltrate the gay rights movement during this
period <ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00272c5</ref>.

==References==
<references>

[[Category:Organisations]]
[[Category:History]]

Paedophile Information Exchange - Revision history

LGBT-HP: Fix bare tag: MW 1.45.1 Cite requires self-closing

LGBT-HP: Created page with "The '''Paedophile Information Exchange''' (PIE) was a British pro-paedophile activist group, founded in October 1974 and officially disbanded in 1984. It is documented in LG..."