It's a fair point

I've often struggled with BL activism for a couple of reasons. One is the point you bring up. I often say that BL activism is like shouting "Stop!" at an avalanche. The avalanche isn't going to stop for little old you, and you're putting yourself at serious risk by trying. Hell, you might even cause the stupid thing. The other reason is our internal divisions. We can't seem to agree on what we want, much less on how to get it. Do we want to abolish the AoC laws? Some of us believe the line that sex is always harmful for kids, so we should just advocate for gaining a little respect if (and only if) we stay away from kids. Others want to lower the AoC to give agency to teenagers, which would be great for TBLs ... while the rest of us are SOL. Some see this half-measure as method rather than goal: empower teenagers as the stepping stone to empowering all minors. Can we count on the slippery slope? As far as the "how" ... personally I think we should focus on the children's rights angle. It's slightly more palatable to the masses, especially since they think we don't give a shit what children want. Pushing for children's rights might make some second guess their assumptions about us. The world seems to be going down the opposite path: infantalizing children and teens, insisting that parents be even more helicoptery, and imposing laws that isolate and silence children in the name of protecting them. Who will be their advocates? Kids can't vote and don't have a voice. When they eventually do, they're not kids anymore, and they don't really care about kids' rights anymore. Their parents have a vested interest in keeping control. Are we the only adults who really care about what kids actually want? But there are even more different ideas about how to go about activism than there are different goals. Not that any of the approaches are mutually exclusive, but if we're pulling for different goals we may end up stepping on each other. I don't have any answers. I've always lived by your "one boy at a time" philosophy. Though there may come a day when there aren't any more YFs in my future ... and at that point I may resort to activism as my second act. So I'm trying to think ahead. (hugs) -= ryvid =-