This page provides additional information on posting sex-related content on our website. (These guidelines are in addition to our rules and guidelines and Terms of Service.)

GCN Sexual Content Guidelines

GCN members come from a wide variety of cultural and theological backgrounds, and everyone's view of appropriate sexual discussion is different. In order to ensure that all our members feel safe and comfortable in our online community, we ask everyone to observe certain guidelines with regard to sexual content.

- Flirtation - Whether you've found someone special or you're just being playful, flirting can be fun! Unfortunately, it also can make others feel very uncomfortable. If you're going to flirt, compliment someone's appearance, or the like, please keep it in private messages and not on the public message board or chat rooms.

- Images - Please do not post shirtless photos or other images that might be considered sexually suggestive. Yeah, we know that you're dying to show off that great picture of you at the beach last summer, but we'd really rather that you wowed us with the content of your ideas.

- Humor - So someone just posted something that left them open for a slightly raunchy joke. It's so hard to resist, isn't it? The pun is just tooooo good. But not everyone appreciates sexual humor, and the joke that's really funny to you might be offensive to someone else. So we ask that you not make sex-related jokes (even mild ones) in the public areas of GCN. (If it's really too good to pass up, you can always make the joke to a friend in private.)

- Language - Please avoid using sexually-explicit language at GCN. If there's a more "family friendly" way to say what you need to say, use that instead. Remember, GCN has visitors of all ages!

- Discussion of Sexual Issues - Sexual morality is important to us as Christians, so we don't want to ban sexual topics altogether, because some of them need to be discussed. (After all, where else are you going to go to discuss sexual morality as an LGBT Christian?) We do ask, though, that you post all such topics in the Sensitive Subjects forum, and that you keep these discussions focused on meaning rather than mechanics (see below) and avoid explicit language or discussion of personal practices or desires. Some things are just "TMI."

What is meaning vs. mechanics?

We ask that sex-related topics at GCN be focused on meaning rather than mechanics. In other words, we want you to be free to discuss questions of sexual morality, the Bible's position on sex, and what it all means for us as Christians, but we ask that you refrain from getting into the mechanical details of things like what you do or would like to do.

To make this clear, here are a couple of examples:

Meaning (Okay at GCN):
- A discussion on "is masturbation a sin?" focusing on the relevant Bible passages and theological arguments on both sides.

Mechanics (Not Okay at GCN):
- A discussion on "masturbation" in general, with members posting comments not only about morality, but things like how frequently they do it, when they started, or what they think about.

Meaning (Okay at GCN):
- A discussion about body image and learning to accept oneself as a beautiful creation of God, even when one doesn't fit society's standards of attractiveness.

Mechanics (Not Okay at GCN):
- A discussion of what individual GCNers find physically attractive or unattractive about other members of the same sex. ("I like hairy legs." "I'm into toned chests.")

As you see, there can be quite a bit of overlap in some of these topics, so it's very easy for a discussion to go from "meaning" to "mechanics" without anyone intending for that to happen. We ask that everyone be very careful to avoid mechanics-related comments and remember that all comments posted on our message board should be appropriate for minors. There are no adults-only areas of GCN.

- Private Conversations - GCN does not monitor the content of private messages. If you wish to discuss something with another member that may not be appropriate for the public board, you may do so via PM, but please use good judgment and remember that this is still a Christian website. If someone sends you a PM that makes you uncomfortable or that you feel is inappropriate, you may report it to the moderating team via the "report" button.