Good Evening all,
This is an interesting twist of a conversation. I shall strive to offer some clarification.
The MKP organization put in place an "Ethics Policy". Here is the URL to it and it is available for public review:
[
mankindproject.org]
Basically, it's intention and commitment is to NOT exploit another, financially, business-wise, therapy-wise. The organization has set a boundary of "non-approach", if you will, of 6 months. The exact quote is:
"For that reason, within 6 months of a person’s initiation, I will not begin a new financial, business, therapeutic or sexual relationship with them that a reasonable person would consider to be exploitative." This is what every person commits to.
Please note that the areas are:
1. Finance
2. Business
3. Therapy
4. Sex
In this conversation, your musings are on the topic of sex. So, let's address some questions.
1. Why put in this Ethics Policy? The organization learned that some transgressions occurred that it decided were
inappropriate and unwanted.
2. The organization is not a Gay or Straight or Sex-oriented organization. It is a Men's organization.
Men, regardless of orientation, are sexual creatures. As such, it became appropriate to establish
guidelines, policies and consequences, if the policies were broken. Such transgressions also occur in
mixed sex organizations/businesses and ethics policies are also established there.
So, this is not uncommom.
3. Most importantly, the organization realized that many men, coming to its retreats & workshops, etc, did come from
a very vulnerable position and the organization learned it must set policies to protect people and situations.
Now, Seeking Truth, you wrote: "
The corollary being that sex is OK between the members of the leadership team and older initiates at any time."
1. I am unsure what you mean by "leadership team" and "older initiates".
2. The organization is not about sex. However, if members choose to engage in physical or romantic relationships OUTSIDE
of the context of the organizational businesses AND not violating the organization Ethics, then that is between the
men invovled. This would also be true if the organization were a mixed sex organization.
3. The statement "... sex is OK between the members of the leadership team and older initiates at any time."
Is not true. This is an false statement.
You wrote: "
But I'm curious as to why there should be the need for such an explicit rule for a men's LGAT in the first place; especially since my understanding of gay lifestyles is that promiscuity is fairly rife (including unprotected penetrative sex)."1. I think I've addressed why it became necessary.
2. Unprotected penetrative sex occurs in both the same-sex & opposite-sex cultures.
You wrote: "
Could it be that the senior leadership team and weekend helpers see involvement with MKP as a way of obtaining sexual favours from new initiates who would be invariably trusting, vulnerable, and (after a NWT weekend) unquestioning young men?"
1. I don't know what you mean by "senior leadership team".
2. No, a team of people or a group of people were NOT looking at others as and I will paraphrase "prey".
3. No, invovlement in MKP does not "turn a straight into a gay".
You wrote: "
So it appears that there has to be a reason for such a limiting rule; and that is that homosexual sex has taken place in the past, and is likely to take place in the future, between senior members and new initiates."What has taken place is inappropriate behaviors and a policy put in place to handle them. Where and with whom have the acts taken place? In the past, there were instances of
1. weekend registrants found "physically engaged".
2. Men approached by others, at various levels of the organization, from both sides. That is, from newer member to
older member and vice-versa.
You wrote: "
So with a hierachy obviously needing a rule to discourage sexual contact with young initiates it makes me wonder what the 'men for boys' or 'boys for men' programme is really all about. It sounds to me as though the MKP hierarchy are really just a bunch of sex-starved pedophiles. And that is yet another reason to avoid MKP by the plague."
1. This is not "a rule to discourage sexual contact with young initiates."
2. This is a policy decision, from many years ago, to address possible situations of transgressions and establish
a process to handle them and to give guidance to the individual chapters on how they should inform their members
about the organizational commitment of "non-exploitation".
3. Boys To Men is about mentoring. It is not about sex.
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Now, I'm sure I've made many statements that some many not like. However, the intention here was to clarify.
Yes, I understand that most of you despise the MKP organization. Certainly, all are entitled to opinions and criticizms.
However, I invite you to consider that in criticizing, it is best to share/report from a position of accuracy as opposed to one of creative imagery.
No, MKP weekend retreats are NOT about sex. They are NOT about homoerotic experiences.
Thank you and have a good evening.