Really important thoughts and analysis here! Some of what you're saying is analogous to what I sometimes write about child sex abuse in the Catholic and Evangelical worlds. I think such abuse has sometimes been pushed out of sight because people in those worlds are unable to clearly distinguish the difference between consensual sex they deem sinful and non-consensual sex, or even sex with underage children.

To them it's all equally morally unacceptable. Religious purity culture tends to conflict strongly with consent culture. The two paradigms have a very difficult time coexisting.

And that makes communication really difficult sometimes. I had sexual feelings as a child, even as young as 11 and 12, but I was innocent as you say. I should have had the opportunity to grow up with those feelings and experience them as wholesome and positive while interacting in healthy ways with my peers.

That's not what happened, as is so often the case with queer people.

Thank you very much for your story!