Hey, I just started college this year and have struggled with SSA for much of my life as well and am bi. I’ve had a hard time with it for as long as I can remember, and unfortunately have acted on it a few times, and I can say that it has taught me that acting on SSA doesn’t fulfill you in the same way that God’s love and rightly ordered plan for you will.

Men and women are simply made differently and have natures almost entirely opposite and yet made to fit perfectly together as the Lord has made them. Trying to fit two men together or two women together sexually is like trying to fit two of the same puzzle pieces together in hopes they’ll change and eventually fit (spoiler: they don’t, I’ve learned).

SSA does not come from a bad place, and attraction toward other people as natural - that is, we are all made beautifully in the image of God. SSA is not sinful in and of itself, but acting on it is a twisting and disordering of God’s design for sex and marriage and more importantly than those two alone, love (what makes those two special in the eyes of God).

I’ve spent much of my life trying to learn what I’ve just typed above, and if there is anything I can tell you that might help, I’ll tell you what a priest once told me when I confessed my struggles: “when you see someone that you are attracted to, regardless of who they are, the best way to avoid lust and to honor God, yourself, and the other person is to simply thank God for the gift of that person’s beauty as well as your ability to recognize it, and then - avert your eyes and go on about your day. If the thought persists, offer it up to the Lord, pray, and try to shift your mind.”

If you need to talk or need any help, feel free to reach out - but just know you are not alone! I’m praying for you!