Three days ago was Alice Day, presumably the unofficial day when pedophiles celebrate their sickness. (It gets worse.) In protest of that day, the group Anonymous shut down and hacked into one of the world’s leading pedophilia advocate websites called NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association). (Leading? Where have I been? I had neither heard of Alice Day or NAMBLA prior to this day.) Anonymous targeted the website with DDoS attacks, leaking suspects’ personal information and defacing their websites. I’m good with that. I imagine most anyone would be good with that, yes? –unless you’re a member of NAMBLA





If you searched the site that day, this is what you would have seen:

Since I had never heard of NAMBLA until today, I decided to research. I googled the name of the organization. Sadly there were many NAMBLA pages to be found. I opened the Wikipedia site first, as they often gives a quick (unofficial) view of people, places and things. In the Wikipedia description I read:

“NAMBLA’s website states that it is a political, civil rights, and educational organization whose goal is to end “the extreme oppression of men and boys in mutually consensual relationships”

That took a bit of my breath away. There are so many things wrong with that statement, I don’t know where to begin. Then I did a search for the actual website. I was stunned to see how easy it was to find NAMBLA.org online and, as most would imagine, it felt very unsettling and disturbing to be in there. On their main page they have an artistic sketch of a young boy who looks to be anywhere from 5-9 years old. They have music and poetry links. I couldn’t stomach the thought of opening them. Finally, I came across “Why NAMBLA Matters” and found these statements among the NAMBLA mission:

For 30 years, NAMBLA has been the primary voice testifying to the benevolent aspects of man/boy love.

NAMBLA has been, and continues to be, a beacon of moral support for all individuals who feel a natural love for boys.

Through our web site and publications, NAMBLA provides a public forum for a diverse range of viewpoints supporting sexual liberation and youth liberation.

NAMBLA is the only organization that specifically supports incarcerated individuals who identify as boy lovers or who otherwise agree with our aims.

Again, I’m stunned. Last I remember pedophilia was/is illegal. NAMBLA even has a Facebook community page:

Also on that same Anonymous To Do list that day:

Target No. 1 is a Russian-hosted imageboard filled with password-protected albums such as “boy Self pics” and “girls in the bathroom.” Target No. 2 is a “free bookmarking & blogging platform” with “sex” in the URL. Target No. 3 is a popular porn-streaming site with the tagline “where anything legal stays” and the unfortunate reputation for lax security measures against user-submitted underage content. (From a The Daily Dot report)

Good on Anonymous. If you’re unfamiliar with the truth-seeking group, don’t feel bad. I was unaware of NAMBLA. Anonymous is a worldwide group that seeks out injustice, takes action, and exposes the information to the world. They are quite gifted at this. Some of Anonymous’ most recent deeds include promoting an internet blackout in protest of CISPA, hacking the Westboro Baptist Church‘s Facebook page, and re-booting the judicial systems of the Steubenville and Rehtaeh Parsons rape cases. I am grateful to Anonymous for seeking out the lowest. Much of what they expose is truly unpleasant to discover. But without the information, such evil people/practices will continue to fester below the surface, taking in our most innocent. This is how we create change.

I am fascinated and inspired by Anonymous. And I’m grateful they exist.

(The author, Leslie Salzillo, is an activist, political commentator, diarist and visual artist. Salzillo often writes diaries in Daily Kos, and began contributing to AddictingInfo.org in March 2013. )