If the progressives secretly believe that the moral panic is out of hand, and the conservatives secretly believe that the moral panic is out of hand, who the hell is keeping it going?

The following:

1. The many people, both conservative and liberal, who have a strong emotional need to believe in the narrative of the moral panic, no matter what they may actually suspect about its validity.

2. The many people, both conservative and liberal, who are in a position to profit from keeping the moral hysteria going. These individuals run the gamut from politicians, mental health professionals with a specific focus & agenda, NGO careerists, LEOs who prosper professionally off of the moral panic, and the many bullies & hooligans who need to vent their frustration and hatred against someone and depend on the moral panic to find them easy targets to do so against with impunity (since the LGBT people are pretty much off-limits as convenient targets now; and some of these frustrated hooligans are LGBTQ themselves).

3. SJWs and many politically active LGBTQ people who depend on the moral panic to provide a scapegoat that is more hated than themselves in the current era, which they can join in against to earn public brownie points and to deter hatred away from their demographic.

4. The many misguided do-gooders, both conservative and liberal, who insist that the moral panic -- whether valid or not -- nevertheless serves a "greater good" by providing a rationale to keep kids under lock and chain for their own perceived "benefit" and to keep awareness of "abuse" in the public eye. And also to make sure that the guilty never go free by ensuring that most people simply accused are sent down the river with no questions asked.

5. Anyone who opposes youth liberation at any cost. In their view, the many destructive effects of the moral panic are "necessary evils."