Genetic Sexual Attraction in Television Dramas

A couple of weeks back, "Law & Order: SVU"  (Episode #13-20) had another Genetic Sexual Attraction plotline, only not really. Don't read this link if you are still trying to avoid spoilers. Allison Leotta recaps the episode.

There really is a phenomenon called “Genetic Sexual Attraction,” where related family members who grew up apart fall for each other when they meet. The theory is that you tend to be attracted to people who resemble you, and who resembles you more than good old dad?

This wasn't the first time GSA was a topic in the series. I can think of two times in the past off of the top of my head, though the portrayal was negative and I don't know if the term was actually used.  I would love to see SVU do balanced episode on GSA depicting a happy relationship in which the participants are not underage or cheating. Since New Jersey has no laws against consensual adult consanguinamory, perhaps it could be adult siblings who live together in New Jersey but work in NYC? The could be special victims getting blackmailed by someone in NYC who threatens to ruin their careers by outing them? If the writers want to reduce the controversy they could make the siblings infertile... maybe he has had a vasectomy, or she has had her ovaries removed or tubal ligation or whatever. Or maybe it could be same-gender siblings.

Anyway, their backstory could be that they were not raised together, were reunited in their early twenties, and have been happy together ever since. Or maybe they were reunited at a later age, after one or both of them went through a divorce, and a jealous ex is the one blackmailing them. It could be a chance for the main characters of the series to talk about the issues, mulling over the usual Discredited Arguments against consanguinamory and why they don't hold up.

More Coverage of Bittles

We've noticed news media coverage of professor Alan Bittles before. Here's some more, this time from Rhianna King at stuff.co.nz...

A Perth-based researcher has called for an end to the stigma surrounding marriage between cousins, after uncovering evidence that the health risks have been greatly exaggerated.

Murdoch University adjunct professor Alan Bittles has shed new light on the consequences of intra-familial marriages, which he says are on the rise in Australia due to increased migration.

This statistic is interesting...

We Get Letters and Threats

Comments continue to pour in on this entry about a case of Genetic Sexual Attraction. Many comments are from haters who are bent on stopping consenting adults they don't even know from loving each other as they desire. However, they are apparently unable to provide a good excuse to hide their hate behind; they can't provide a reason love between consenting adults should be criminalized.

Here's a comment of note...

Anonymous May 17, 2012 8:03 AM

marriage equality have you been watching too much of incestous porn lately? I bet your hard drive is filled with such matter. I must ask the police to investigate

Ask the police to investigate what? An American using his First Amendment right to express a political opinion that CONSENTING ADULTS should be free to be together? I think the police have more important things to do than take orders from a nutcase.

Genetic Sexual Attraction has NOTHING to do with incestuous porn. And notice that this blog does not promote porn of any sort. I don't link to porn sites in that list on the right, I don't publish or republish porn here or anywhere else. In the context of this blog's subject of civil rights, have mentioned some videos that claim to depict consenting adults who are closely related. I have mentioned a site of written erotica at least once. That's about it.

If Anonymous is implying I am interested in the exploitation of minors, I am most definitely not and I have no interest in any media that depicts that, other than my interest that abusers of minors be locked up for a very long time.

I have made it clear over and over again that this blog is about consenting adults.

Deal, No Contest Plea in Possible GSA Case

Updating this story about an apparent case of Genetic Sexual Attraction, Kerana Todorov of napavalleyregister.com reports...

A woman charged with having sex with her teenage son pleaded no contest Tuesday to incest and other felonies in Napa County Superior Court.

Mistie Atkinson, 32, pleaded “no contest” to incest, oral copulation with someone under the age of 18, sending harmful matter and contact with a minor for sexual offense against her biological son, a Napa resident, between October and March.

The "harmful material" consisted of pics and videos. Just about every 16 year-old boy has been "harmed" by viewing such media. (I'm not excusing the production of such media when it includes minors.)
 

Under the plea deal, Atkinson may be sentenced to four years and eight months in state prison for the crimes against her son who lived with his father, according to court records. With time credit for good behavior, she may be out of prison in two years and four months.

 Would a man have been given the same deal?

The woman, who does not have custody of her son, had left the boy when he was 2 years old, court filings indicate.

Still nothing about whether or not the man who impregnated her when she was 15 or so was ever held criminally liable for doing so. If having sex with 16 year-old is criminal, then having sex with different 16 or 15 year-old has to be too, righ.

Again, I'd like to know if there is any indication that she is a predator in general, or if this is the only thing like this she has done, prompted by GSA.

Full Marriage Equality Means Marriage For All

A limited same-gender freedom to marry is not full marriage equality. It is part of full marriage equality. Full marriage equality means that an adult, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, or any other personal characteristics or circumstances of birth, can marry any consenting adults, without discrimination.

There are people in loving relationships, living as spouses, who can’t get married as long as gays and lesbians are banned from marriage, the polyamorous are banned from marriage, or the consanguinamorous are banned from marriage.

Letting them marry won’t hurt anyone else’s marriage; rather, it will make marriage more relevant in today’s world.

Right now, gays and lesbians can marry in some countries and some US states, but there are some states that, won't even recognize their marriages, let alone marry gays and lesbians. Some of these families include children whose parents want to get married, and people who say they want more children raised in marriage won't let them marry. What kind of sense is that?

Genetic Sexual Attraction on Talk Show Television

I’m finally getting around to the recent discussion of Genetic Sexual Attraction on the Dr. Drew show, and what response there has been to it. The discussion certainly wasn’t balanced, but discussions often are not balanced on shows like this.

Here’s where I found the transcript for the show that aired May 10, 2012.


Dr. Drew Pinsky cited the Mistie Atkinson and Amy Sword cases, both of which involved minors.

Joining me are two women who had intimate affairs with their fathers after reuniting as adult. Carly and Julie say, what we`re calling, or has been called genetic sexual attraction, or GSA.

His phrasing implies there was sex.

Julie reunited with her genetic father last year.

PINSKY: Is there a sexual component to it now?


JULIE: Oh, there wasn`t at first.


PINSKY: But then there was?


JULIE: Well, exactly.

This implies there was sex, but I’m not sure there was.

What happened was I actually said to my husband, I said, I feel the same feelings that I felt when I fell in love with you. I feel like I`m falling in love.

So Julie was married, presumably in a marriage where monogamy was the expectation.

JULIE: No, because our daughters 3 and 4 years old at the time want to marry my husband. They come down in dresses, daddy, marry me. They have this heroic awe for their father. And so, I never got to do that with my father. I started to feel that. But I`m an adult. So I was really confused.

Julie is comparing herself, a grown married woman with children, to 4 year-old girls.

JULIE: Well, I kind of kept it to myself mostly, but, you know, I was definitely more needy. You know, I constantly wanted to talk to him. I wanted to be in his presence. I wanted to hold his hand, be under his arm and all that kind of stuff.


And what happened was there started to be some tension. I could tell that he, too, was struggling with feelings of attraction for me.

No sex mentioned.

PINSKY: Do you understand that feels a little gross?

Thinking about different sexualities feels “a little gross” to different people. For example, there as lesbians who think heterosexual sex is gross, heterosexual men who think that gay sex is gross, people who think BSDM is gross, people who think swinging is gross.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there, especially mothers who face discrimination, persecution, and even prosecution for loving one or more other adults.

We're making progress. Hang in there and continue to care for your loved ones.

If you have an interesting Mother's Day you think our readers will want to hear about, do tell! Sons and daughters.... any special plans?

Extortion Attempt Against Stevie Wonder Thwarted

In another example of why laws and prejudices against consensual incest are harmful and can be used as political or criminal tools, it has hit the news that a man attempted to extort money from Stevie Wonder by claiming (falsely, apparently) to be the child of an incestuous relationship between Wonder and his sister.

People would be less likely to try this if laws against consenting adults having sex were repealed in more places.

Pejudice Makes For Poor Arguments Against Marriage Equality

An entry from a while back on a couple experiencing Genetic Sexual Attraction has received much attention in recent days, and has attracted many comments. Some comments are supportive. But it is the other comments that are so revealing. For example, someone will claim consanguinamory should be criminalized because of Discredited Argument #18, but soon we see that their real issue is personal disgust and is not really about birth defects. And, of course, there are the comments from people who simply express their disgust.

What we see is that there is no good reason to deny consanguineous lovers their rights to share love, sex, residence, and marriage.

Ghana’s Gotta Get With It

Here’s yet another report of consenting adults being prosecuted and persecuted for simply loving each other.

The Ashanti region town of Juaso near Tepa has been thrown into a state of shock following a revelation that a 27 year old farmer has been having sex with his mother.

The act which is said to be consensual has allegedly been going on for months.

One act for months?  They’re probably sore!

They have been fined by the traditional council to pacify the gods for the incestuous act.

Oh yes, to pacify the gods, and not at all to fatten the wallets of nosey finger-waggers.

An eyewitness account told Joy News the ‘affair’ has been going on for six months.

They let someone else watch, and now that person repays them by being a rat? Or was the person a peeper and a rat?

He named the man as Yaw Berko and the woman, Ama Osabimaa, 47.

The traditional council has confirmed the incident and imposed a fine of ¢100.00 as well as a bottle of gin and two sheep on them.

No folks, this isn’t from The Onion. I would be laughing if I wasn’t offended by the intrusion into the love lives of consenting adults.

In all fairness to Ghana, many other countries also have and enforce stupid laws against consanguinamory. That should change. An adult should be free to share love, sex, residence, and marriage with any consenting adults. Consanguinamory is everywhere, and “the gods” haven’t reacted negatively.

Where to Talk About Genetic Sexual Attraction

Genetic Sexual Attraction has been in the news and on television lately, so I offer this reminder for people who want to talk about Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA).


Unfortunately, people happily in GSA relationships are less likely to participate in online discussions or appear in the media than people who are unhappy or whose relationships have ended...

"Let's see... hang out with my lover, or argue with strangers online.... hmmmm."

"Sure, I'll appear on your talk show or in your news report, increasing my risk of being prosecuted, being persecuted by hateful bigots, being fired, having the person I love most taken away from me..."

Still, if you want help or just want to discuss Genetic Sexual Attraction, the two best places to go are...

GSAForums.com - FREE, open, and welcoming to any respectful person looking for help, support, or information.

Reunion GSA Yahoo Group - Free, but back to being private. You have to ask to join, and you may not be allowed.

You might also want to check out Kindred Spirits, which is a free discussion forum for any consanguinamorous relationships, whether initiated through GSA or not. Advice may be offered through private message, but is generally not offered in the open discussions.

In the future, after hateful laws are repealed, it will be easier to find help and support. Until then, we have to deal with things as they are.

What Part of "Consenting Adults" Do Some People Not Get?

Every once in a while I'll get a comment from someone accusing me of encouraging the abuse of children, or actually abusing children myself.

Nowhere, ever, have I done anything like any of that, or anything of the sort.

I have made it clear, over and over again, in multiple places on this blog, that my support of legal protections and recognition for consanguinamorous lovers pertains to consenting adults.

An adult preying on a child is not about love or sex, it is assault and abuse.

One person, regardless of age, assaulting another person is not consensual sex.

It is insulting to compare lovemaking and recreational sex between consenting adults to preying on children.

I argue for laws against adult consensual sex be repealed or overturned. I do not argue of the age of consent to be lowered.

An adult... ADULT... should be free to share love, sex, residence, and marriage with any consenting... CONSENTING... adults.