Is romance inherently sexual?

While I agree that an 11 year old is too young to be in a romantic relationship, it's not inherently sexual to have a crush on another person. And so long as the adult wasn't talking about sex with them I don't think it's sexualising them.

That's like saying seeing people kiss is exposing them to sex. But it's not.

Sexualising someone is presenting them as a sexual object for a third party viewer/listener. A kid talking about crushes isn't sexual to anyone except a pedophile.