This is why we have to currently 'bend' so much...

...to the proverbial wind.

1) We are an extremely hated and misunderstood minority at the present time. The great majority of society currently has no interest in understanding us and our attraction bases.

2) Society is likewise very hysterical over the very subject of youths under 18 being sexual beings, especially when they desire to have such interactions with much older people. It's commonly believed that youths under 18 are too incompetent to understand the implications of sex and to make good sexual decisions, and it's also believed that they are inherently "innocent" and that sexual activity causes them to "lose" this precious innocence, and further, our society gives all of these mystical powers to sexuality and believes that it's more life-altering and trauma-inducing for a young person to engage in willing sexual activity with an adult than it is for a soldier in combat to watch his friends blown up around them from a combination of enemy infantry and 'friendly fire.' If you doubt that, then look at how many flagrant war-mongers this country has compared to how many people who believe that mutually consensual sexual activity can actually be as liberating and positive for minors as it is for legal adults.

3) Our enemies can easily use our words against us, to convince open-minded seekers of knowledge, fence-sitters, and moderates to come over to the anti camp.

4) GC is a public board, not a locker room. The face that we present here is our public face, and is not the equivalent of private discussions that go on in e-mail or via instant messaging on MSN. Hence, it's not for GLers' eyes only.

5) GC may be an all-purpose board dedicated to discussions of GL, but it was never intended for titillation purposes.

6) There are plenty of ways we can show our resistance to society's stereotypes and draconian laws without violating the rules of this board.

The above six reasons combine to form the basis of why we must "bend to the wind" as if in a tornado at the present time. If we didn't do so, this board would have been gone long ago. I follow those above stipulations with no problem whatsoever, yet no one can accuse me of bending over backwards to the antis, or for caving into mainstream pressure.