International Consanguinamory Day

April 28, 2019 is the second Annual International Consanguinamory Day.

It is a day to celebrate and raise awareness about consanguinamory, consauinamorous relationships, and consanguinamorous people. It is important for people to know:

• They know people who are consanguinamorous, perhaps people they love and admire.
• Consanguinamorists exist in every demographic, race, class, and population and always have.
• Consanguinamory is in your genealogy.
• Consanguinamorists face prejudice, harassment, discrimination, even criminalization and murder simply for being who they are and loving other consenting adults.
• We are going to ensure that people of all genders, sexual orientations, and relationship orientations, including consanguinamorous people, have their rights sooner rather than later.

Consanguinamorous people and allies are welcome to join Kindred Spirits for support and opportunities to help others. If you’re consanguinamorous, you’re not alone!

Remarkable Essay on Consanguinamory

Unfortunately, we missed this essay by Rudolf Mandelbaum when it was published at medium.com in January of 2018. In it, he argues that consanguinamorous people should have civil rights, too.

Whether you are moved by this essay or not, please consider taking this issue more seriously than most people today do, which means examining your position on it thoroughly, and being willing to discuss it as though it is not a settled matter with no effect on people’s lives. 

For my part, I intend to demonstrate that incest, that is, sex, romance, and/or marriage between family members, is not only not unethical, but that its stigmatization is unjustifiably bigoted. I also hope to prove to you why your position on it isn’t trivial, why this isn’t no big deal, or an abstract intellectual ideal deserving no present real world advocacy, why it is in fact a serious social justice concern worth holding a stance on.

Good!

Starting or Joining a GSA at Your School

Not only are school years a time for intense personal discovery and growth, but they are usually a time of intense pressures, including the pressure to conform, and bullying.

For those reasons, Gay-Straight Alliances, or Gender and Sexuality Associations, or Diversity clubs are critical. Any club or program that supports gender, sexuality, and relationship diversities in students and their families can be of help.

If your school doesn't have such an organization, consider starting one. See here and here. As schools plan for the next school year, don't let your school be without such an organization!

If you school already has one, consider joining and/or supporting it. Student, faculty, and parental support are all needed.

Whether starting or joining, please do what you can to make the organization welcoming, inclusive, and accepting of all whose identity, sexual orientation, relationship orientation, or existing relationship (or that of their parents) makes them a target for discrimination or bullying.

Game of Thrones is Back For a Final Season

Well, here we are again. This is what was posted here last time.

Season 8 has started. I'm not spoiling anything in the text of this post.

Do you watch? Are you caught up?

One of the things the series is known for is depictions of consanguineous sex. While the depictions can be less than positive, the good thing is that they can spark some honest conversations.

Depictions of consanguineous sex and relationships have always existed in our stories, all through history, because it has always been a part of life. Some people do these things. Many more have wanted to or have at least found the idea interesting or stimulating. Some have thought about it without actually wanting to. And if people can discuss these things honestly, that's a good thing.

Has Games of Thrones helped you to talk about it? Has it sparked some thinking about it? You can comment below (including anonymously) or you can email fullmarriageequality at protonmail dot com.

Genetic Sexual Attraction is Not a Synonym For Incest

[This is being bumped up because it is as relevant as ever.]

"Proclamations of the Red Queen" at gaynz.com had an article with the title "Genetic Sexual Attraction: The New Face of Incest"

When we think of incest, we instinctively recoil from horrific images of frightened children cowering from parental or related sexual predators. But what about “consensual adult incest’? Is it any different?

Of course it is. Consanguinamory is very different than abuse.

In Gay Times, John Marrs discussed the matter with two formerly estranged gay and bisexual brothers. One had been adopted out of his family of origin when his parents divorced as a child and due to adult adoption reforms, was able to track down his family of origin and meet his parents and little brother, now a seventeen year old teenager. Two years later, the older brother came out to his younger sibling…who responded by having sex with him.

Good. There could have been any number of negative responses, including physical violence. Instead, they made love.

National Day of Silence in the US

GLSEN's National Day of Silence is Friday, April 12.

It's a day of silence, especially in schools, to bring awareness to the prejudice, inequality, and bullying suffered by LGBTQ people.

Along with all allies, I also think poly people and consanguinamorous people should participate.

Everyone should have the freedom to be themselves without being bullied. Every adult should have the right to share love, sex, residence, and marriage (or any of those without the others) with ANY and ALL consenting adults, without prosecution, bullying, or discrimination. Young people should be free to develop relationships, as appropriate for their age, with their peers without being forced into a narrow heteromonogamous paradigm. Transgender, genderfluid, intersex, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and other students and faculty need to see that they are supported.

LGBTQ, poly, and consanguinamorous students and faculty still have to deal with hateful policies and attacks, but with your help, that will continue to change.

National Siblings Day

It’s National Siblings Day, at least here in the US. 

In keeping with the interests of this blog, we want to celebrate all people who love their siblings, especially if that includes supporting your sibling as they face discrimination for their gender identity,  their sexual or relationship orientations, or their relationships or sexuality.

We also want to celebrate all siblings in consanguinamorous relationships. For many of them, there is no more important person in the world than their sibling(s).

So if you have a good sibling, let them know you appreciate them.

Here's one of many interviews I've done with consanguinamorous siblings. There are more here.

If you have siblings or children or a parent or some other close relative or friends in such a sibling relationship, this is for you.

Sometimes middle-aged siblings experience a change in their relationship dynamic. Unfortunately, siblings are still denied their freedom to marry in most of the world.

Finally, there is some really wonderful, painfully realistic fiction about a sibling relationship.

Comment below or email fullmarriageequality at protonmail dot com if you have something you want to share about your sibling(s).

Why Many Lovers Look Alike

A recent article at time.com by Jamie Ducharme explores and explains something you may have noticed and studies have backed up: Many people are attracted to people who look like them. As we point out, who looks more like you than a close relative? This might help explain why reunion Genetic Sexual Attraction happens.

In 2016, Olivia Brunner, like millions of Americans, decided to take an at-home DNA test. But Brunner wasn’t motivated by pure curiosity. She bore a striking resemblance to her then-boyfriend, Greg — from their hair colors and complexions down to their facial expressions — and for years, people had commented that they looked related. She needed to confirm, for her own peace of mind, that they weren’t — especially since she had been adopted as a baby.

If you've been having a wonderful relationship with someone for years, why should that stop just because you found a close genetic relation? It doesn't change who that person has been to you. It doesn't change the experiences you've had together. It does mean that societal prejudices, in some places still enshrined in unconstitutional law, may come into play, but it's tragic if that ends a good relationship.

Consanguineous Affection is Not a Joke or Stunt

Greg Barradale at thetab.com analyzed a YouTube video and made it clear he didn't approve of the affection displayed.

Here's what he had to say about it...

One: How the f--- is this a prank?

It's a "prank" because there's a prejudice pervasive in many societies that siblings aren't supposed to be affectionate this way. 

Two (and this is the truly important question): What the F---? No need for a few paragraphs laying out why this, as a concept, is weird.

What the writer is doing is the equivalent of jumping up and down. He simply expects everyone to agree with him. But some people like sharing affection, including with their siblings. The writer doesn't give any reason why they shouldn't.

Jane Answers Bigot

Someone left some comments on Jane's blog to try to throw some people under the bus, but she handled it like the queen she is. 

Update on Unconstitutional Nebraska Prosecution of Consenting Adults

There are developments relating to this situation covered previously here.

They actually went ahead with prosecuting these consenting adults. They're wasting public resources on this.

Brent BonFleur reported at klkntv.com...

A St. Paul man accused of marrying and having a sexual relationship with his daughter will be sentenced on May 30. 

DNA Testing showed a 99 percent probability that the man, Travis Fieldgrove, 39,  is the father of 21-year-old Samantha Kerschner. Kerschner is also charged with felony incest.

She is being prosecuted, too. So who is the victim of this "crime" again?

According to court documents, Fieldgrove pleaded no contest to criminal attempted incest. 

Under the plea agreement, both the prosecutor and public defender are making a joint recommendation for Fieldgrove, for two years behind bars.

Two years of imprisonment for having sex with another adult! This is outrageous! Let's hope the judge does the right thing here. There is no good reason this should be a criminal matter in the first place.

UPDATE: He was sentenced.