Thank you for this story, Heather. I think we need to hear more stories of this kind. It serves two purposes: it reminds us how an adult can misuse the trust of a child, and how BLers can work against abuse.

The step-father may not have been a BLer (he seemed not to care about the welfare of the boy), or he might have been a BLer who let his own desires cloud his judgment. Reading this story will help us not to make the same mistake. We need to be reminded that our love for boys, or their trust for us, can cause them to do something they don't really want to, and subtly pressure them not to speak up. We must not let our biases prevent us from considering the boys' needs, just like we want non-BLers to put aside their biases that cause them to label all BL relationships as abusive.

Stories like these can appeal to our love for boys to cause us to look critically at our beliefs and actions, prevent us from harming boys, and motivate us to work against abuse. I think this is more effective at preventing or ending abuse than supressing our feelings because we think they are sick. I would like to hear more stories about BLers working against abuse. If we truly love boys, we will all work toward this end.

--Julius