Teacher's thread claiming sex between adults and minors is not 'intrinsically harmful' HORRIFIES Twitter

We have read some straight-up evil and awful threads on Twitter (yay, it’s part of what we do) but this one from a teacher? Ummm … yikes.

It crossed our timeline when AG Hamilton called her out:

Absolutely horrifying that this person is actually in a position to teach children. While there may be gray areas, children are generally not in a position to be able to consent to sexual relations with an adult and the harm is obvious. https://t.co/3bBZ0EKn4n

— AG (@AGHamilton29) February 26, 2023

Here’s the actual thread.

🧵🧵🧵THREAD:

Sometimes in education, a student hits you with what can only be described as a "curveball". In my case, as a provider of consent-awareness and sex-positivity-oriented courses, I often find myself getting pulled towards some rather tricky…

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

Consent-awareness and sex-positivity-oriented courses.

What now?

…and politically fractious subjects.

One common conflict, is where my responsibility to teach students *responsible self-conduct within the law*, clashes with the importance of teaching *assertiveness and agency* within their sexual relations. This tension often flares up…

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

Hoo boy.

…when we are discussing Age of Consent laws, and the ever-changing "close-in-age" exemptions of some other jurisdictions.

A reply I often hear when explaining the topic of sexual relations among minors and between minors and adults, is "how is it abuse if I wanted it?"… pic.twitter.com/J4oQ7iuwdN

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

This, is of course, a reasonable question for a young person to ask, and shows a precocious and admirable degree of critical thinking.

The answer to this question, is (deep breath…) that sex between a minor and an adult isn't *intrinsically* abusive, nor innately harmful!

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

No, this is not a reasonable question for anyone to ask.

Sex with minors is ALWAYS harmful and abusive, groomer.

But socially "inappropriate" in christian america… sure, I won't contest that one. Irresponsible? Well, maybe, particularly if highly religious parents or radfem-adjacent moms are alerted, which can lead to serious legal repercussions that I have witnessed first-hand.

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

One does not have to be a Christian to know adults should not have sex with minors.

One thing I do quite often, is get the kids to ask themselves whether there is some kind of "trip switch" inside their brains, or some kind of hardwired biological mechanism which ensures they will be traumatized if somebody touches them sexually before they pass a legally… pic.twitter.com/a5vokowSp8

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

WHAAA?

…determined age cut-off. This is a useful thought-experiment, because of course, the idea is an absurdity. An ahistorical and evidentially devoid absurdity!

Since harm in casual relations with peers and adults comes from guilt and social conditioning…

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

No. Harm comes from adults taking advantage of minors.

…or in thankfully rare cases, force, which is always wrong, it's important to drill these ideas into kids from an early age. As sex-positive educators, we have a responsibility *not* to teach the next generation to see themselves as helpless victims, especially young girls…

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

Understanding that adults have no business having sex with them does not make any minor a victim.

Gah.

…who are known to be the demographic most at risk of purity culture, social shaming and gaslighting. Consent is such an important subject to teach when it comes to preventative public health, as when kids are equipped with the *right kind* of information…

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

Purity culture.

The crap these people make up to excuse this behavior and line of thinking … wow.

…and feel they are in control, secondary harms can often be averted.

It is, of course, a great relief for my students to learn they are not innately "dirty", corrupted, or bound to suffer some great psychological torture following consensual sex play…

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

…with partners of their own (or any) age. If any of them ask for evidence, or repeat the hogwash about sex being intrinsically harmful (usually learned from the trafficking/rescue industry, prohibitionists, quack TV doctors and "grooming" RW culture warriors)…

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

…I then immediately point them towards the work of Bruce L Rind, described by one author as "scientifically correct, politically incorrect".

Rind's original 1998 study in the thread attached, has not only been passed by regulators…https://t.co/JLe1rmxuCK

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

*sigh*

…but successfully repeated on two occasions (Ulrich, Daly), and his more recent work with a Finnish sample is VERY interesting.https://t.co/ApDVnvKwOg

— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023

Just. No.

You have no business discussing sex and gender with anyone’s children you monster.

— Long Monkeypox (@podiatristdon) February 26, 2023

Why do children need 'sex positivity' classes in schools?

it's not the business of a school.

— Shay Patrick Cormac (@ShayCormac_1) February 26, 2023

You make me want to puke. Stop trying to normalize adults having sex w a child. If I knew your real name I’d turn your ass in, child molester.

Signed,
A survivor of childhood sexual abuse

— Shari – 1984 (@jdhlsc169) February 26, 2023