Alberta

First of all I would argue that the difference between a “quirk” and a mental illness is whether it messes with your life, and pedophilia very much does - in that sense a sexuality can be a mental illness if it interferes with your mental wellbeing.

Being gay often messes with ones life and mental health. Is homosexuality a mental illness?

Secondarily would say that whether pedophilia can be “cured” through therapy - making it a mental illness in your definition - or it can only be mitigated, is something that therapists know and I don’t.

There is treatment, ranging from Drug to Behavioral therapies, and from what I can find they are pretty effective.

My "definition" does not involve "curing" anything. I said treatment can lead to positive outcomes, not that it will. Plenty of known mental illness' and disorders have terrible outcomes with or without treatment.

The point is pedophilia is either a sexuality or a disorder and it cannot exist as both.

Regardless, it makes no difference towards the point I was trying to make: people who suffer from it should not be stigmatised because of it, as it makes it harder and scarier for them to seek help

If what you are trying to say is "Pedophilia should be de-stigmatized in order to see more people seek help and have better outcomes." then simply say that.

Pedophiles need help before they hurt someone. Accepting Pedophiles for being Pedophiles and normalizing the behavior in anyway is not the way to go about it because it is not normal behavior.

It is not my responsibility to accept them for who they are as a prerequisite to them seeking help.

I do not care how "hard" or "scary" it is to seek help in the current climate. It is their responsibility, and only their responsibility, to deal with their issues before something bad happens.