Some images of a book entitled «El niño Jesus no odio a los mariquitas» are circulating. Translated on social media as “Baby Jesus does not hate gays”, the book contains several erotic images. According to the narratives spread online, triggered by a description of the work on Amazon, the book would be dedicated to children aged 6 and over and would promote pedophilia. According to many users, this work would be linked to the elusive intention of the European Union to indoctrinate our children. Considering the denials and the sources found, the book appears to be a satirical work aimed at an adult audience.
For those in a hurry
- The book was contested following its publication on Amazon, in May 2024, where the words “For ages 6 and up” were reported and therefore aimed at children.
- The listing on Amazon was removed on May 14th.
- The publisher specified that the satirical book was created for an adult audience, as demonstrated by the product description published both on the site and in the presentation documents.
- The book, published on April 17, was presented at Barcellona Comic and announced through a document dated April 18 where the destination was clearly indicated: adult audience.
- The satirical book explains how stupid homophobia is and tries to make adults understand that no LGBT community wants to turn their children into homosexuals as if they were vampires.
- One of the drawings was used to claim that the work supports pedophilia, depicting an alleged child in a sexual act with an adult. In reality, the character has a mustache.
- The publishing house has received funds from the Spanish authorities from the European Union, but this in no way promotes pornography for minors and crimes such as pedophilia.
Analyses
Images from the book are shared with descriptions like the following:
THIS IS WHAT EUROPE WANTS OUR CHILDREN!
Spain, children’s book causes scandal
Published by Fandogamia and illustrated by Julio Serrano, the children’s book “Baby Jesus Does Not Hate Gays” (although the Spanish term “mariquitas” is usually used with a more offensive meaning) shows explicit images of sexual acts between nuns , between people of the same sex and, recalling the colonial history of the country, between conquistadors and South American Indians.
In one of the exercises intended for children (aged 6 and up) you have to find, like in a labyrinth, which penis will fit where the sun doesn’t shine.
But already from the cover “El niño Jesus no odio a los mariquitas” does not bode well: it depicts a crucified Jesus cheerfully holding rainbow flags.
According to some social media users, the book contains “paedophilic images of adults penetrating a child with a pacifier”.
The book
The publication of the book dates back to April 17, 2024. Titled «El niño Jesús no odio a los mariquitas», it contains the word «mariquitas» used in Spanish slang to indicate homosexuals. Originally used in a derogatory sense, it has since been used by the LGBT community to disarm homophobes who use it as an insult.
It is a satirical work by the Spanish cartoonist Julio A. Serrano, aka “Don Julio”, author of another similar book against fascism and Nazism published in 2023:
In the Instagram post of April 18, 2024, the author responds to a user about the reason for such “childish drawings” in the contested book:
User: «But if the book is for adults, why do you use that format and that spelling?»
Don Julio: «Because homophobia and fascism are concepts that should have no place in our society in the 21st century. This is why we created a notebook that imitates children’s notebooks, to see if those left behind discover it once and for all. And because it’s more fun, of course.”
How the dispute arose
The protest against the book began around the first days of https://twitter.com/ModoAlt/status/1789166954718101921. Critics highlighted the following description of the product on Amazon: «A PARTIR DE 6 AÑOS», i.e. from 6 years.
As highlighted by Maldito Bulo’s Spanish colleagues, the book is no longer available on Amazon as of May 14, 2024.
Clarifications from the publishing house
The editor of the publishing house FandogamyPedro F. Medina, published a series of tweets where he reported his version of events, stating that the description “From 6 years old” was not the work of the publishing house.
To support his version, Pedro publishes the screenshot of the description originally sent, where there is no reference to the age indicated on Amazon.
In a further tweet, Pedro reports the description present in the distribution documents of the book where we read a clear reference: «In this book for adults» («En este libro para adults»).
The hoax of the pro-pedophilia design
A further challenge to Pedro’s criticism concerns one of the drawings in the book, where online users claim (also convincing Elon Musk) that it refers to the support of pedophilia.
What is passed off as a minor violated by an adult is actually an adult as he has a moustache. There is no pacifier, as claimed by some online users, but an open mouth under the moustache.
The presentation at Comic Barcelona
The book was presented during the recent Barcelona Comic, the annual fair for comics authors, publishers and readers, managed by FICOMIC. This year’s edition was held on 4-5-6 May.
The list of new books and comics published by the Fandogamia publishing house is published on Scribd. The file upload date appears to be April 18, 2024, the day after the official publication of the disputed book.
Leafing through the PDF file, we arrive at the page relating to the contested book where we clearly read that the work is aimed at an adult audience: «In this book for adults there will be many activities to learn about entertainment».
On Scridb you can update documents by publishing a revision. To check whether the document has been reviewed, we downloaded it to read its metadata.
The document was created and modified on 18 April 2024, therefore the wording indicating the book for an adult audience was present and presented to the public in this sense since the first days of its release.
The description “book for adults” was already present on the website of the same publishing house, well before the outbreak of the controversy, as demonstrated by the following save on Web.Archive of 26 April 2024:
The contents are clearly aimed at adults
On social media, several buyers are sharing some pages of the book in order to make it clear that the work is really aimed at an adult audience. In the example below, the comic is aimed at those who have children: “They will not come into your home to desecrate bullarengue, nor will they come to turn your children into homosexuals as if they were vampires.”
Why is Europe brought into play
The financing received through EU Next Generation funds is clearly indicated on the Fandogamia publishing house website. As indicated on the dedicated page, the total amount – equal to 69,900 euros – was allocated through the Department of Education, Culture and Sports of the Generalitat Valenciana, according to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience of the Cultural Industries Plan of the Spanish Government. Funding was provided for training programs, digitalization processes and “cultural acceleration” in the years 2023-2026.
According to what is reported on the official website Next-generation-eu.europa.eu, the fund established to support member states affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, contents aimed at combating racism and xenophobia, promoting gender equality are promoted and women’s empowerment, as well as protecting the rights of the LGBTQI+ community.
The book, being aimed at adults and in a satirical vein, would respect these indications. In any case, the fund does not under any circumstances support illicit activities such as pedophilia.
Conclusions
The Spanish book is not a work aimed at children, but at an adult audience. Data available online shows that it is a satirical work intended for an adult audience, in order to demonstrate how stupid homophobia is. Under no circumstances does the European Union promote pornographic content of this kind to minors and does not in any way promote crimes such as pedophilia. The publishing house finds itself having to face a series of attacks due to the incorrect description spread via Amazon.
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