PIE was set up as a special interest group within the Scottish Minorities Group by founding member Michael Hanson, a gay student living in Edinburgh, who became the group's first chairman, and co-founder Ian Dunn, who was the also founder of the Scottish Minorities Group. Although Hanson did not identify as a paedophile, his sexual relationship with a 15-year-old (who he thought was 16) and the disparate age of consent laws for heterosexual and homosexual activity made Hanson sympathise with paedophile advocacy.