This is the forum I've been looking for :)

Hey Everyone, I'm Steve and I'm 26! I've been experiencing GSA as far back as puberty, and after living majority of my life around people I can't talk to about this, I'm reassured to see so many friendly people in here =) I don't have any personal experiences of my own, so I guess that technically makes me an ally, but I'm hear to support and gain support. Hope I get to know some of you and I fit in alright haha.

Can you please elaborate on your experiences? Are you attracted to specific people?

For sure. I guess I can say I'm the black sheep in my family, but I was always attracted to my half sisters and cousins while growing up. I tried to ignore it as much as I could as I could never bring myself to ever open up about it to them since that could possibly get me disowned. I love them, and I'm willing to keep quiet to keep my family from falling apart because of my thoughts.

In which case welcome aboard, I've upgraded you so you can participate in all forums

Welcome!

Thanks so much =)

welcome:)

Welcome, Steve

Hi Steve, thanks for being supportive. What I can tell you its common for many people feel some kind of sexual attraction for relatives, but never act on it. I have friends that admitted to having had school girl crushes on one or more cousins. A few have privately confessed they engaged in some sex play when much younger. I personally suspect a few of them engaged in intercourse based on what they said, and how they said it, but none of them were willing to openly admit it, which is fine, what people do privately\concentuually, is their private business, they are not required to ever discuss it with anyone else. This a very taboo subject, so it's no surprise that very few people discuss consensual encounters they have had with a close relative. The closest a friend ever got was telling me she dated a cousin and admitted they had a very close relationship.

It's reassuring, hearing how common it is, honestly. Around the age when I started noticing girls more, I kind of knew something was different about me than my friends. It was embarrassing, especially when I was at family barbecues growing up, and we were all swimming, I only found out I was getting more and more attracted to my half sisters, and my niece (who is a year older than me since my dad had me in his second marriage and my sisters are close to my mom's age, so they had kids when my dad had kids... if that makes sense haha), and I didn't really have anyone to talk to about it. Even thought of putting myself into therapy thinking maybe I'm sick possibly?.. But eventually, I accepted that I can't help who I'm attracted to, and it's not just about attraction obviously. I love everyone in my family and the attraction only makes me wish I was closer to them I read a lot of Jane's posts, and I really like the phrase "double love", because when I read that, I instantly knew what she meant since it felt familiar to what I feel... even though I haven't experienced it, but a guy can dream haha. I don't think I have ever thought consensual incest was weird when I think about it. I support all of you and I hope that your movement keeps pushing to make this normal so that all people can love without loving in fear.

Hi Steve, The old saying is "if you think you might be crazy, you're probably not". Your thought of putting yourself in therapy is noble, but hang around her for a little while first. Our moderators are well thought, and your friends here will give you more support than you can handle. As long as you are controlling your desires, it's okay,your love of family is what we all understand. As you probably know from reading our thoughts here, one of the biggest problems for most of us is having to keep our lives quiet.

ScubaSteve wrote:It's reassuring, hearing how common it is, honestly. Around the age when I started noticing girls more, I kind of knew something was different about me than my friends. It was embarrassing, especially when I was at family barbecues growing up, and we were all swimming, I only found out I was getting more and more attracted to my half sisters, and my niece (who is a year older than me since my dad had me in his second marriage and my sisters are close to my mom's age, so they had kids when my dad had kids... if that makes  sense haha), and I didn't really have anyone to talk to about it. Even thought of putting myself into therapy thinking maybe I'm sick possibly?.. But eventually, I accepted that I can't help who I'm attracted to, and it's not just about attraction obviously. I love everyone in my family and the attraction only makes me wish I was closer to them I read a lot of Jane's posts, and I really like the phrase "double love", because when I read that, I instantly knew what she meant since it felt familiar to what I feel... even though I haven't experienced it, but a guy can dream haha. I don't think I have ever thought consensual incest was weird when I think about it. I support all of you and I hope that your movement keeps pushing to make this normal so that all people can love without loving in fear.

No, you don't need therapy, because there is nothing wrong with you. It is the world that's in the wrong for making you feel that way about something that you cannot help and didn't ask for. I always feel a sense of moral outrage when I see that this kind of damage is being done to people by societal prejudices and institutionalized incestophobia. Spend some time with us here in the forum, having a place to discuss your feelings with other consang people will help you to put them into context and further understand them. Simply being around others who understand, who are the same as you, can do more for your wellbeing than a therapist who has learned in the classroom that all incest is bad. If you've never thought that consensual incest was weird, then the chances are you don't have Westermarck effect. Not everyone has it, it's not the universal thing society believes it to be. I think this is why society at large tends to misunderstand consang people so much, especially non-GSA people, people have a hard time imagining that anyone could lack Westermarck and actually want to have a relationship with a family member. Yet their unthinkable is our reality.

This movement, although it's in it early days, will succeed. I'm 100% confident in that. It's going to take time of course, and a lot of work, but all things are possible, and it's going to be the dawn of a new chapter in the history of our people. We have one advantage, we can learn from history of other civil rights movement, especially the LGBT movement, since many of the arguments used against incest are the very same ones that used to be used against gay people. It would be intellectually dishonest for our critics to apply one line of reasoning to LGBT and a completely different set to us, and so we have to call them out on their faulty reasoning.

No, you don't need therapy, because there is nothing wrong with you. It is the world that's in the wrong for making you feel that way about something that you cannot help and didn't ask for. I always feel a sense of moral outrage when I see that this kind of damage is being done to people by societal prejudices and institutionalized incestophobia. Spend some time with us here in the forum, having a place to discuss your feelings with other consang people will help you to put them into context and further understand them. Simply being around others who understand, who are the same as you, can do more for your wellbeing than a therapist who has learned in the classroom that all incest is bad. If you've never thought that consensual incest was weird, then the chances are you don't have Westermarck effect. Not everyone has it, it's not the universal thing society believes it to be. I think this is why society at large tends to misunderstand consang people so much, especially non-GSA people, people have a hard time imagining that anyone could lack Westermarck and actually want to have a relationship with a family member. Yet their unthinkable is our reality.

I agree with you in the sense that therapy means trying to fix something that is broken. But talking with a understanding\informed counselor can be helpful for anyone who is struggling to better understand their sexuality. A person should understand\accept their sexuality whatever it might be. The basic rules always apply, what two consenting adults do in private is their business, and they should be aware of the laws where they live.

hiya Steve!
I'm glad you found your way here... not sure what else to say just yet! but I hope to see more of you ^^