<human>: I have several gay and lesbian friends.  Their argument on why society should accept them for who they are is because they can't control their sexual attractions, any more than a heterosexual person can, and therefore they should not be judged or marginalized.  

I have a friend who was sent by his parents to a church program to make him "straight".  It obviously didn't work, and the experience had major effects on his self esteem.  He was only 16.  He'd never been with a man (as far as I know), but he was quite confident in his sexual desires.  I've seen a bunch of studies that confirm that these programs don't work.

He said there was another man in his program who was an admitted pedophile.  This guy was sexually attracted to teenage girls.  He found himself fantasizing about 15 and 16 year-olds.  He said he knew it was morally and socially (and legally) wrong, but he couldn't change his sexual attractions.  Like my friend, this man had never acted on his sexual urges to sleep with a teenage girl, but the urges were there nonetheless.  

So my question for /r/AskReddit is, do we judge the pedophile differently than we do my gay friend?  This man knows his sexual attraction to teen girls is legally and socially deviant, but despite his counseling, he can't make his feelings go away, any more than my friend can stop liking guys.  Obviously, anyone who abuses children deserves the full punishment of the law and society, but how do we legislate simple thoughts?

My stomach turns at the thought of rape or child abuse.  I have little sympathy for these offenders.  At the same time though, I think of tormented men living 50 years ago who lived their entire lives harboring homosexual thoughts, who were unable to express them for myriad reasons.  They lived, they died, and their desires went to the grave with them.

Can you provide a brief overview of the text?
<bot>: If we accept homosexuality based on the premise that it is something people are "born with", should we also accept pedophilia if the person never acts on their inherent urges?