I'm a hebephile

I'm attracted to boys in early puberty. That's my preference. I think many people would label me as gay, but I don't feel comfortable with this as I think being gay means being attracted to men and that I'm not. I'm also attracted to women/girls my age. So... I'm not gay and I feel like if I tell someone I'm a hebephile no one will understand and associate it with pedophilia. I don't know what I expect from posting this. Thanks for reading and I'm awaiting responses.

It hasn't been 24 hours since I posted this and I can't edit it? Could a mod please edit it to say nothing?

If you want to have this thread removed, your best bet is probably to PM a mod.

P.-S.: You are not alone in this situation. I am also attracted to teenage boys as well as to adult women, and I don't identify as gay either.

Any male who wants to do sexual things with other males is going to be considered gay by the public, there's nothing you can do to change that public perception.

Its not easy for some people being attracted to the same sex, I know from experience having a couple with boys when I was going through puberty, I still and always have felt attracted to girls/women throughout the years. I long for a girlfriend/wife and found as I got older guys did nothing for me, I honestly think that is why I got into CP when I found things of questionable morality and it slowly got worse.

I have never wanted to be gay yet I enjoyed doing stuff with those boys at the time, does that really make someone gay when your a horny kid?

Some will say I'm gay, some will say bisexual for me I just think my perception of sex and sexuality was screwed up at a young age, over time if you believe something is true you will convince yourself even more.

How old are you out of interest? I assume your probably in your teens from the way I read your post?

just_some_guy wrote:and I feel like if I tell someone I'm a hebephile no one will understand and associate it with pedophilia.

Wrong. Many people mistake hebephilia for pedophilia, as the word pedophilia is over-used nowadays, and especially in America (no offense).
Many people think an adult being attracted to a 15 year-old, for example, is pedophilia, while technically it is not, it is indeed far from being pedophilia.
It is especially true for girls, as a 15 year-old girl usually already has the body type of an adult woman, more or less. But even many guys at 15 already start to have some physical adult features, such as body hair, deeper voices, more muscles etc.
There are other teens who start developing later though, so at 14-15 they still look kind of childish.

To me, liking teens from 13 to 15 is hebephilia, from 15 to 19 ephebophilia. But I dislike labels, though. But for the sake of technically correct psychiatric language, here it is.
"Technical" pedophilia would be from 5 to 12, while under 5 would be nepiophilia, although the latter is a subcategory of pedophilia.
Of course, every pedophile has different ages of preference and their attractions vary, for example I am not attracted to girls under 8.

If you're attracted to individuals who have entered puberty, then you're normal. Ignore the nonsense terms.

Hebephilia and Ephebophilia are stupid terms and not even considered mental disorders.

When I first started finding other guys attractive, I was 18 and they were about 13-15. When I was around 21 I found some 14-16 year olds attractive, and now it is mostly young adults I find attractive in my mid-twenties. I just naturally find younger guys attractive and there is nothing wrong with that. I obviously wouldn't have sex or date someone under 18, but if I was a pedophile I would likely find pre-pubescent kids attractive and it wouldn't change.

I don't think finding younger boys attractive early in puberty is a problem. You don't seem to have any interest in acting on these desires so you can just accept them as normal and keep control.

Being gay, or homosexuality simply means being attracted to your own sex. Has nothing to do with the age range. If you're a guy attracted to other guys, regardless of their age, you're gay. If they're post-pubescent in age, you're gay and hebe/ephebophile.

*mod edit - off topic*