Progressing to Pedophilia?

Yesterday I picked up a copy of the Wisconsin Gazette. They bill themselves as "the voice of progress for Wisconsin's LGBT community."

I find an article entitled "Gay military strategist key to Washington's victory over British" written by Victoria A. Brownsworth as a special to the Wisconsin Gazette for National Gay History Month. Read it here.

I will summarize. The article touts Benjamin Franklin as a gay-friendly founding father because he recruited gay military strategist and "extraordinary advisor" Baron Friedrich von Steuben to help with our war versus the British. According to the article, Franklin gradually overcame his reluctance to recommend Von Steuben for the job. He came with a bit of baggage. For example, a letter written to Von Steuben's former boss reads "It has come to me from different sources that M. de Steuben is accused of having taken liberties with young boys which the laws forbid and punish severely...." Nonetheless, Franklin wrote the recommendation and "Von Steuben arrived in February 1778 with his 17-year-old French lover, Pierre Etienne Duponceau. The rest - thanks to Franklin - is history."

So the only mention in the article of Von Steuben's homosexual activity involved sex with boys. The article quite evidently does not distinguish between homosexuality and gay pedophilia. Throughout the article, Von Steuben is simply described as "gay." And the article generally portrays both Franklin and Von Steuben favorably.

Frankly, I find this disgusting. A 17-year-old French "lover" of a 47 year old man would be considered by decent people as a victim, not a lover.

So I am left wondering why the voice of progress in the Wisconsin LGBT community would print articles about pedophiles and pedophilia in such a positive light. Is that what they intend to progress towards?