Indeed, Shanley's alleged connections to the North American Man/Boy Love Association, a group that questions
age-of-consent laws and is a pariah to most gay activism, are among the most heated of all the controversies surrounding him.
But as the Holland Sentinel has reported, Holland's
age-of-consent law "permits sex between an adult and a young person between 12 and 16 if the young person consents.
Califia stretches the boundaries of this tradition with her defense of sadomasochism and her controversial critique of
age-of-consent laws.
On the morning of February 21, however, The Times and other newspapers were put in the position of carrying front-page stories about both the
age-of-consent vote, to take place later that day, and Derek's death.
On the final day, Canada and the European Union tried to ram through a set of "International Guidelines." In the name of human rights, these included a normalization of homosexuality, including same-sex marriage, penalties for those who "villify" this "orientation", further explicit sex education for children, and a removal of
age-of-consent laws.