40 years pondering the issue as observer, victim, and activist:
When children were molested in the past what happened depended on the sex of the child and molester:
1) Male child, female molester: Almost never prosecuted. Male child was considered "lucky".
2) Female child, male molester: Almost never reported, many excuses made when reported, with prosecution of the offender in only the most egregious of circumstances.
3) Male child, male molester: Blamed on homosexuals. Both attacker and victim considered criminals. Male victim was considered complicit in crime, a homosexual and a future child molester himself.
#3 Was the one that created the most scandal and most outrage. When it happened it was viewed as evidence of gays "recruiting", "turning" boys to become homosexual.
And who were the molesters? Almost invariably "trusted" and "respected" members of society: Ministers, priests, scout masters, teachers, coaches, people who had been quite vocal about morality, ESPECIALLY the dangers posed by "homosexuals".
Now it has been known for some time that gay people are rarely molesters, but it was an matter of certainty until the last decade or so in many quarters, and still is, even today, in the more conservative venues. The high and mighty moral champions of the community railed against gay people, claiming that they posed a threat to children. And low and behold, when children were molested, the perpetrators almost invariably came from the moral champions.
This is one of the reasons prosecuting child sexual abuse was a major problem, the people enabling the molesters had a a vested interest in protecting them, denying reality, and finding scapegoats, i.e. gay people, to point at when the matters became public.
So, in my personal experience (your mileage may vary), people who were/are viciously homophobic seemed to be either projecting or overcompensating. The BSA and the Catholic Church were at the forefront of "protecting" society from "moral deviancy", and when the truth was told, they were really protecting the monsters in their own ranks.
The issues ARE linked in that gays were scapegoated by these groups to protect/hide these monsters.
Any group with deep seated misogynistic/homophobic/racist ideology has no respect for women, gays and minorities and will act inhumanely toward them. They will blame them for what they see as wrong in the world and use that as an excuse to persecute these groups.
And children are the least able to defend themselves and thus make the most natural victims to prey upon. The defenseless of children is then exploited by the predators to misdirect the mob while also whipping the mob into a frenzy.
So, as long as the Catholic Church, the BSA, the Mormons, etc, harbor bigoted views about gays, women, and minorities, they pose a clear and present danger to children. Even if they do not abuse the children sexually, they abuse them mentally and morally by inculcating them with their hatred.
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