A San Francisco Bay area teacher went viral on Twitter last weekend after posting a lengthy thread arguing that sex between a child and an adult is not “intrinsically harmful.” Zara Degeneres, a self-described “pagan witch,” faced widespread condemnation from parents. According to her LinkedIn page, she specializes in “teaching sex-positive values to middle and high school students through sex education.
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On Friday, Degeneres wrote,
“Sometimes in education, a student hits you with what can only be described as a ‘curveball.’ In my case, as a provider of consent-awareness and sex-positivity-oriented courses, I often find myself getting pulled towards some rather tricky and politically fractious subjects.”
🧵🧵🧵THREAD:
Sometimes in education, a student hits you with what can only be described as a "curveball". In my case, as a provider of consent-awareness and sex-positivity-oriented courses, I often find myself getting pulled towards some rather tricky…
— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023
According to Degeneres, those “tricky and politically fractious subjects” include the age of consent laws.
“A reply I often hear when explaining the topic of sexual relations among minors and between minors and adults, is ‘how is it abuse if I wanted it?’” she wrote.
“The answer to this question, is that sex between a minor and an adult isn’t *intrinsically* abusive, nor innately harmful!”
She argued that child-adult sex is only “inappropriate” because of outdated Christian morals. According to the “sex educator,” children are only harmed because of the guilt and shame imposed by “highly religious parents.” Degeneres said she believes that children are fully capable of consenting to sex with adults.
“Since harm in casual relations with peers and adults comes from guilt and social conditioning or in thankfully rare cases, force, which is always wrong, it’s important to drill these ideas into kids from an early age. As sex-positive educators, we have a responsibility *not* to teach the next generation to see themselves as helpless victims, especially young girls.”
Degeneres then went on the mock conservative activists for spreading “hogwash about sex being intrinsically harmful,” citing the work of psychologist Bruce L. Rind as “evidence.” Rind’s study, which argues that child sex abuse “does not cause intense harm,” was condemned unanimously by Congress in 1999.
“There shouldn’t be any “sex-positivity” courses for children,” DeSantis Deputy Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern wrote. “This is grooming. There’s no other word to describe it.”
There shouldn’t be any “sex-positivity” courses for children.
This is grooming. There’s no other word to describe it. https://t.co/t5v2ijzcs5
— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) February 26, 2023
“Read this and draw your own conclusion about what is being pushed on the ‘minor-attracted persons’ front,” said clinical psychologist and Daily Wire host Jordan Peterson.
Read this and draw your own conclusion about what is being pushed on the "minor attracted persons" front. https://t.co/A0mXWUnz0d
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) February 26, 2023
“Absolutely horrifying that this person is actually in a position to teach children,” writer AG Hamilton said in response. “While there may be gray areas, children are generally not in a position to be able to consent to sexual relations with an adult and the harm is obvious.”
Absolutely horrifying that this person is actually in a position to teach children. While there may be gray areas, children are generally not in a position to be able to consent to sexual relations with an adult and the harm is obvious. https://t.co/3bBZ0EKn4n
— AG (@AGHamilton29) February 26, 2023
“You make me want to puke. Stop trying to normalize adults having sex w a child. If I knew your real name I’d turn your ass in, child molester. Signed, A survivor of childhood sexual abuse”
🧵🧵🧵THREAD:
Sometimes in education, a student hits you with what can only be described as a "curveball". In my case, as a provider of consent-awareness and sex-positivity-oriented courses, I often find myself getting pulled towards some rather tricky…
— Zara DeGeneres she/her ⛤ (@zaradegeneres) February 24, 2023
“We currently have a mechanism for dealing with people like this – prison and the sex offender registry. However, it appears to not be enough to prevent the problem.”
We currently have a mechanism for dealing with people like this – prison and the sex offender registry. However, it appears to not be enough to prevent the problem.@MattWalshBlog @libsoftiktok https://t.co/1nI17IZQzl
— Unconventionally Conservative (@unconcon1) February 26, 2023
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According to Degeneres’ Linkedin, she holds no advanced degrees and received a bachelor’s in psychology in 2013. She claims to have been teaching “sex-positive” messages to teenagers since 2017.
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