Courageous title!
I understand exactly what you’re talking about. Among gay men, attraction to youth can also be a problem.
A theme of middle-aged men exploiting late adolescent boys or very young adults runs through gay literature. I’ve witnessed some of it, myself, and in my novel David and the Lion’s Den, that theme features in an important sub-plot.
I like your approach to the problem. Too often, we hear people just scream “pedophile” or “child abuser” while implying that attraction to 17, 18, 19, or even 20 year olds is sick and twisted on its face.
I agree with you that attraction to youth (as opposed to biological children) is simply a value-neutral physical response, and not one people have much control over.
It’s more useful, I suppose, to acknowledge the response as unremarkable, while still drawing firm moral lines about behavior.
Teenagers have a lot to lose getting sexually entangled with adults. Pointing that out might me more effective than demonizing human nature.
Jim
