During one of my earliest worthiness interviews as an adolescent, the interviewer asked if I masturbated. I needed a definition because I hadn’t experienced it yet. Then I was asked, “Have you ever tried to have sex with an animal?” (I don’t remember if they said bestiality first and then had to define it when I had no clue what they were talking about.) And I’ll be honest here, that idea never crossed my mind until that moment. I was pretty shocked, but said no, of course.
And I was asked this question many times growing up. I accepted it as a pretty normal thing.
I’d forgotten about it until now, but now I know that it’s not normal, and it’s not okay. I shouldn’t have been taught about what masturbation and bestiality are behind a closed door with an adult man with no professional training. And I shouldn’t have been groomed to think that these were normal and appropriate conversations.