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'''Peter Melzer''' was a physics teacher at Bronx High School who was reassigned to a desk job because of his role as a [[NAMBLA]] leader. School officials began hearing from angry parents after he appeared in a television report on the group. Melzer has also written articles for NAMBLA's newsletter about fundraising and [[civil rights]]. Melzer said, "Anyone who ever spends time in a teacher's lunchroom can hear comments from men and women teachers who are attracted to students. If we're going to start examining what everyone's private outlook is, there'll be no one left to teach." Ron Davis, a spokesman for the United Federation of Teachers, said that "it's the position of the union that this is where you draw the line."<ref>How Free Can Teachers' Speech Be? By MELINDA HENNEBERGER. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 03 Oct 1993: 131.</ref> Melzer readily admitted that he is a boy lover, and is attracted to boys up to the age of about 16.<ref>https://casetext.com/case/melzer-v-board-of-educ-of-city-school-dist</ref>
'''Peter Melzer''' (AKA "Peter Herman") (b. April 16, 1940, Brussels, Belgium - d. Feb. 9th 2024 New York, USA) was a self-confessed [[Boylove|BoyLover]] (attracted to boys up to 16 years old), a respected teacher, holocaust survivor, and administrator/editor/writer at [[NAMBLA|North American Man/Boy Love Association]] or [[NAMBLA]] (the website and the ''Nambla Bulletin''). Sometimes described as "the head" or "leader" of NAMBLA, Peter had a passion for education and spoke German, French and English fluently, teaching for 31 years (1968-1992) as a Physics teacher at New York's prestigious Bronx High School of Science. For much of his adult life, he eschewed shame and lived openly as a celibate boylover, being "out" to friends and work colleagues who he felt would be sympathetic / reasonable. While he had never been suspected of or charged for any crimes relating to sexual activity with young people, Melzer famously fought a lengthy legal battle to retain his teaching role after he came to national attention due to a three-part television report on NAMBLA by WNBC's John Miller.


Kevin Healy, now retired from the New York City Police Department, was employed as a detective in the Department's Public Morals Division in the early 1980's when, posing as a NAMBLA member, he worked with Melzer on NAMBLA's Steering Committee. Healy distinctly recalls having a conversation in or around 1983 with Melzer during which Melzer discussed having sexual relations with a young boy or boys in the [[Philippines]]. The Philippines has been cited as a popular destination for [[sex tourism]] by pedophiles in the NAMBLA Bulletin. Melzer's presence in the Philippines in 1983 is corroborated by a letter that
The report, aired on March 2, 3 and 5th of 1992, and viewed by many hundreds of thousands of households each night, prominently displayed Melzer on camera at public meetings of NAMBLA's New York chapter, identified him as a [[pedophile]] and a leader of [[NAMBLA]] and a teacher at Bronx Science. This was partially successful: an appellate court ruled that he [[Vigilantism|could not be fired simply on the basic of his paedophilic identity]], nor what he chose to do lawfully in his time outside of his teaching duties. He could, however, be moved out of the classroom. Peter therefore kept (and increased) his salary for another 10 years, earning a good pension, but having to work outside the classroom. Although he lost the job he loved and considered this a failure, he was – ironically – paid substantial sums to do virtually nothing teaching related, and left with ample time for BL / NAMBLA activism. Provocatively, one could argue that he was effectively paid to do NAMBLA work...
he sent to the principal of Bronx Science in October of 1983. In the letter, Melzer offered to discuss with faculty members an educational conference that he had recently attended in the Philippines; in the letter he also suggested that an exchange program between Bronx Science and a science high school in the Philippines be considered.<ref>http://www.nycsci.org/reports/09-93%20NAMBLA-Melzer%20RPT.pdf</ref>
 
==Surviving Nazism: Peter Melzer's Childhood==
 
Born in Brussels on 16 April 1940, Peter's first language was French, and he would be known as “Pierre” until his high school years in the United States. His mother, Regina (“Gina”) Jaeger, was born in Vienna and had a good job there. But with the rise of the Nazis and Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, it was wise for Jewish families, including the Melzers, to leave the country. So Gina and her husband Herman Melzer (whose name was presumably the inspiration for Peter's later pen name) went to Belgium, where work was scarce for refugees. A month after Peter's birth, the German occupation of Belgium began, and the lives of any Jews were put in jeopardy there as well. During Peter's infancy, his father was arrested by the Nazis and, after being taken to France and made to undertake forced labor there, he was eventually sent to Auschwitz death camp and died there.
 
In 1942, two-year-old Peter had whooping cough. Gina, afraid her son's illness would attract too much attention, had him hospitalised, partly to avoid detection as part of a Jewish family. Peter was then separated from her, starting a new life in Anderlecht in the care of a stern Belgian woman paid to harbor Jews, including a couple of other boys. He stayed there for two and a half years until the Allied forces liberated Belgium, when his mother was at last able to retrieve him.
 
Young “Pierre” - now an only child - and Gina, would remain in Belgium until 1951 when, through the assistance of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) in New York City, they were able to emigrate to America. Their ship docked in Hoboken, New Jersey on 31 July. As a clever, artistic boy, also with an aptitude for science, “Pierre” reinvented himself as Peter, an American, able to fit in and do well enough at school to go to City College of New York (part of CUNY, the City University of New York) and graduate with a degree in physics.
 
==Later Life and Death==
 
Peter led an extremely active social life, enjoying winter skiing holidays well into his 70s, and kayaking on the Hudson River in New York. In December 2023, Peter had been diagnosed with an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer, and died at his home in New York on the 9th of February, at age 83. Friends were there at the time.
 
In tributes / obituaries to him, Peter is remembered as a dedicated, stalwart figure<ref>[https://heretictoc.com/2024/03/22/how-to-rewild-generation-doomscroll/ NAMBLA LOSES LAST STEADFAST VETERAN] - Heretictoc.com (Thomas O'Carroll).</ref><ref>[https://www.boychat.org/messages/1623587.htm Our comrade Peter died. Let this be his memorial.] - Boychat.</ref><ref>[https://www.boychat.org/messages/1623724.htm Peter Melzer AKA Peter Herman-a BL hero!] - Boychat.</ref> who believed passionately in NAMBLA's mission to bring about legal reform to [[age of consent]] and [[statutory rape]] laws. Such laws had, during his lifetime, criminalized mutually willing (i.e. consensual) intimacy involving a proscribed age gap, regardless of the views, feelings and desires of those involved. 
 
==See also==
 
*[https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgii60 Chickenhawk] - Documentary from 1994 on NAMBLA.
*[[List of MAP-related magazines]]


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


[[Category:People]]
[[Category:People]]

Revision as of 00:38, 30 June 2024

Peter Melzer (AKA "Peter Herman") (b. April 16, 1940, Brussels, Belgium - d. Feb. 9th 2024 New York, USA) was a self-confessed BoyLover (attracted to boys up to 16 years old), a respected teacher, holocaust survivor, and administrator/editor/writer at North American Man/Boy Love Association or NAMBLA (the website and the Nambla Bulletin). Sometimes described as "the head" or "leader" of NAMBLA, Peter had a passion for education and spoke German, French and English fluently, teaching for 31 years (1968-1992) as a Physics teacher at New York's prestigious Bronx High School of Science. For much of his adult life, he eschewed shame and lived openly as a celibate boylover, being "out" to friends and work colleagues who he felt would be sympathetic / reasonable. While he had never been suspected of or charged for any crimes relating to sexual activity with young people, Melzer famously fought a lengthy legal battle to retain his teaching role after he came to national attention due to a three-part television report on NAMBLA by WNBC's John Miller.

The report, aired on March 2, 3 and 5th of 1992, and viewed by many hundreds of thousands of households each night, prominently displayed Melzer on camera at public meetings of NAMBLA's New York chapter, identified him as a pedophile and a leader of NAMBLA and a teacher at Bronx Science. This was partially successful: an appellate court ruled that he could not be fired simply on the basic of his paedophilic identity, nor what he chose to do lawfully in his time outside of his teaching duties. He could, however, be moved out of the classroom. Peter therefore kept (and increased) his salary for another 10 years, earning a good pension, but having to work outside the classroom. Although he lost the job he loved and considered this a failure, he was – ironically – paid substantial sums to do virtually nothing teaching related, and left with ample time for BL / NAMBLA activism. Provocatively, one could argue that he was effectively paid to do NAMBLA work...

Surviving Nazism: Peter Melzer's Childhood

Born in Brussels on 16 April 1940, Peter's first language was French, and he would be known as “Pierre” until his high school years in the United States. His mother, Regina (“Gina”) Jaeger, was born in Vienna and had a good job there. But with the rise of the Nazis and Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, it was wise for Jewish families, including the Melzers, to leave the country. So Gina and her husband Herman Melzer (whose name was presumably the inspiration for Peter's later pen name) went to Belgium, where work was scarce for refugees. A month after Peter's birth, the German occupation of Belgium began, and the lives of any Jews were put in jeopardy there as well. During Peter's infancy, his father was arrested by the Nazis and, after being taken to France and made to undertake forced labor there, he was eventually sent to Auschwitz death camp and died there.

In 1942, two-year-old Peter had whooping cough. Gina, afraid her son's illness would attract too much attention, had him hospitalised, partly to avoid detection as part of a Jewish family. Peter was then separated from her, starting a new life in Anderlecht in the care of a stern Belgian woman paid to harbor Jews, including a couple of other boys. He stayed there for two and a half years until the Allied forces liberated Belgium, when his mother was at last able to retrieve him.

Young “Pierre” - now an only child - and Gina, would remain in Belgium until 1951 when, through the assistance of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) in New York City, they were able to emigrate to America. Their ship docked in Hoboken, New Jersey on 31 July. As a clever, artistic boy, also with an aptitude for science, “Pierre” reinvented himself as Peter, an American, able to fit in and do well enough at school to go to City College of New York (part of CUNY, the City University of New York) and graduate with a degree in physics.

Later Life and Death

Peter led an extremely active social life, enjoying winter skiing holidays well into his 70s, and kayaking on the Hudson River in New York. In December 2023, Peter had been diagnosed with an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer, and died at his home in New York on the 9th of February, at age 83. Friends were there at the time.

In tributes / obituaries to him, Peter is remembered as a dedicated, stalwart figure[1][2][3] who believed passionately in NAMBLA's mission to bring about legal reform to age of consent and statutory rape laws. Such laws had, during his lifetime, criminalized mutually willing (i.e. consensual) intimacy involving a proscribed age gap, regardless of the views, feelings and desires of those involved.

See also

References