The Irish edition of tabloid news magazine The Sun recently covered the story of Penny Lawrence, a 28-year-old woman suffering from Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA) who is now pregnant with her father’s child. Now, Carolyn Castiglia, a blogger for Babble.com, argues that while empathy for such a condition is important, it may also confuse the message attached to marriage equality efforts.
In her blog post, Castiglia points out the fact that GSA is a confusing psychological condition, one that many victims feel helpless to resist. As such, GSA warrants study and patient support – but it is not related to and should not be lumped together with gay marriage.
Unfortunately for same-sex marriage supporters, writes Castiglia, this is exactly what some generally-defined marriage equality groups are doing.
“Stigmatizing GSA is only going to cause incest advocates to adopt it as a pet cause, like the individual behind the website Full Marriage Equality, which both supports gay marriage AND incest – a conflation any gay marriage advocate would be smacking themselves in the head over,” Castiglia says.
Ultimately, Castiglia says, “it’s sad to see Lawrence’s story co-opted by a site like Full Marriage Equality which stands for nothing by standing for everything. No one wants to see incest supported by society, but victims of GSA need some level of sympathy.”
So incest is caused by mental illness, but homosexuality is not? I guess if incest advocates convince some gullible politicians that 10% of the population has GSA then it will suddenly be no longer classified as a mental illness.
The only time GSA has anything to do with same-sex marriage is when the people experiencing GSA are the same gender. However, the bigots should be called out when they express their opposition to any freedom to marry, citing consanguinarmory or polyamory as “reasons” same-sex marriage should be opposed. We need to ask them to explain exactly why an adult should not be allowed to marry ANY consenting adults. Make them defend their bigotry. They can’t.
“However, the bigots should be called out when they express their opposition to any freedom to marry, citing consanguinarmory or polyamory as “reasons” same-sex marriage should be opposed”
So do you support marriage between incestous couples or are you a bigoted hypocrite like 99% of the other marriage “equality” supporters? Sadly, many pro-LGBT rights supporters are just as bigoted and intolerant as the opposition, as they have no problem with calling things like incest “gross” and “disgusting” simply because they don’t like it.
“…Castiglia points out the fact that GSA is a confusing psychological condition…”
Actually, the psychological condition belongs to everyone EXCEPT those with GSA. That psychological condition is called “reverse sexual imprinting” or “the Westermarck Effect” which develops in almost all of us for our members of our family unit; for those who raise us, for those we raise, and for those raised with us. Those who experience GSA were separated from this genetic family unit and were denied that ability to develop a reverse sexual imprinting for their genetic parents, children, and siblings. So, when they meet these people, who share their genetic code, for the first time as an adult sexual being there is no psychological condition, no reverse sexual imprint, to prevent their sexual involvement.
I just want to keep the facts straight. People with GSA have an aversion to sex with those who raised them, those who they raised, and those who they were raised with. The problem is that these weren’t their genetic family….the ones they should have had the aversion for. So GSA is the absence of a psychological condition. It is the natural result of not having one.