Oh, you mean the men too, asshole? Funny...in your parents' day and age, it was never the boys they sent away.

If hes anti birth control and anti-sex ed, he's a hypocritical asshole (he's a distasteful asshole anyway).

And while I don't believe in shaming, ostracizing, "sending away" or terrifying pregnant teens or teens who experience unexpected consequences from sex (STIs, pregnancy, whatever)....

Oh the hell with it. Penalties (like restricting access to BC and keeping mum about real concerns regarding sex, be it readiness to be a parent, abusive relationships, whatever) aren't working.

But I resent being guilt-tripped into the notion that it's neutral for a someone who may lack the maturity and may be unable to provide 70% of what their kid needs financially/emotionally to be knocked up, especially in a country where you can still go to the drugstore and buy condoms (that goes for boys too....fuck, ESPECIALLY for boys. Wish we could make men experience what its like to pregnant).

Either way....fuck officials like him. I'm always surprised the license people like this are granted....no matter how often they damn themselves with their own words, on record.

Wow. I just finished reading the book "The Girls Who Went Away" about those so-called "sluts" who were sent away to pregnant teen homes to give away their children. The amount of shame that these young women went through was unbelievable. Not only were they shamed at the time, but they continued to feel shamed for most of their lives. And they were forced to give up their babies.

I would like to see this guy try and call them sluts to their faces!

Oh my freakin' god, this is ridiculous. I am so going to call because, seriuosly, how many great messages can one come up with to leave regarding his comments. They are endless...

By the way, his answering machine reminds us to "speak slowly and clearly." Oh, I will...

Yikes. As if we needed another reason to pull out our hair, I just saw this video on CNN about two girls getting suspended for wearing shirts demanding they teach something other than abstinence-only "sex-ed".

Ah yes, one of the reasons I miss flying every week- to see the ridiculous crap in local papers that one never hears about otherwise. I have to make light of this because really thinking about men like this in decision making roles makes me too scared and sad to get out of bed.
So instead, I think he is just upset because he was shamed into thinking sex was BAD BAD BAD and therefore hasn't been laid since 1965.

1) A girl who has the same boyfriend for years, who's entirely faithful to him and they're a real "they'll get married some day" couple is still a "slut" just for having sex with that one guy? Seems like he's using the word to refer to any teenager who has sex at all.

2) If they are sluts, it's not the government's damn job to stop that.

I really can't think of much more to say than "what the fuck?"..so disgusting.

Oh, what an ass. I don't think anyone thinks that a teenager who has not finished high school becoming pregnant or having a baby is a really sound, well thought out thing.

But how is shaming a pregnant teenager a good idea? What is that going to accomplish? It makes that girl feel awful, and certainly doesn't help her to make a decision, or figure out a way to take care of herself and her baby, if she chooses to keep her baby. There is no reason why she should feel ashamed and carry that shame with her for the rest of her life! And it's not good for the child either, if the girl has the baby. That child will have the stigma of being a "bastard baby" following them.

Whatever assholes like him think personally of premarital sex, shaming kids who have sex is not the answer. Comprehensive sex education and contraceptive education is.

"I think he is just upset because he was shamed into thinking sex was BAD BAD BAD and therefore hasn't been laid since 1965."

That was my thought exactly. the only people who get all flustered and call people "sluts" are the people who aren't getting any. lol

I sent him an email. What an ignorant jerk.

"Send them away" and...what, exactly, Rep. Liston? Give their babies to a more deserving anti-slut (good luck finding her!)? Banish them to Slut Island, where sluts and their kids do whatever it is they do for perpetuity?

This isn't how lawmaking works. You have to actually come up with solutions that help your constituents, not just bitch about how they don't make the choices you want them to.

Playa hata just resents not getting any in high school.

so disgusting.

He needs to wipe that silly ass smile off his face in his picture for starters.

I just sent somebody a sweet, understanding, gentle, explicatory voicemail.

Here's my letter to Senor Douchebag: (strike that--he probably thinks using a douche is slutty too...)

Dear Representative Liston:

I am greatly offended and appalled by your comments regarding pregnant teenagers. You said, "In my parents' day and age, (unmarried teen parents) were sent away, they were shunned, they were called what they are. There's no sense of shame today. Society condones it ... I think it's wrong. They're sluts."

Do you know of any boys who were sent away, Mr. Liston? Do you know of any boys who were shunned? I think you'd be hard-pressed to find them. Though you may say you mean the boys too, we all know who "bears" the brunt of the shame doled out by people like you.

And if you want shame, Mr. Liston, why don't you go back to the days of the Puritans and force them all to wear a great, big letter "A" too. That might be just as effective as name-calling in the battle against a few million years of evolution.

It is precisely shame--shame about sex--that contributes to teen pregnancy in the first place. Some adults are so ashamed of sex that they refuse to arm teen boys and girls with life-saving, pregnancy-preventitive information. Yet again, it is YOUR PARTY that wants to outlaw abortion, your party that won't budge for universal access to healthcare and contraception, and your party that wants abstience-only education in our schools when, eveident by your own frustration here, it clearly isn't working.

So what's a pregnant girl to do? She didn't have the information about or have access to contraception in the first place, so now she must decide between being shamed and shunned or having an abortion.

If Republicans are so intent on a "Culture of Life," you might want to think about what happens to that life AFTER a baby is born, instead of hoping that slut-shaming will make teen pregnancy just disappear.

It's getting more and more embarrassing to be a Coloradan.

someone needs to send Liston away.

Nerve. Absolute nerve.

I'm not a fan of all of these out-of-control out-of-wedlock births but shaming young ppl for being irresponsible is counterproductive.

Parents have to be more comfortable with talking to their kids about sex. Education doesn't equate to encouragement. If you know your kid's having sex, please give them a contraceptive.

Young girls need to be taught self-worth so as not to give into the "If you love me, we don't have to use a condom" nonsense that guys use.

Young boys need to be taught to be just as responsible as girls are being taught. Many ppl still adhere to the age-old, irresponsibility encouraging belief of "That's her parents' problem" when a young girl gets pregnant.

http://anonymissblog.blogspot.com

Why "sluts" and not "statutory rape victims"?

I'm tired of this guff about "it's not statutory rape if the boy is under 18" because -- are you any less a robbery victim if the thief is under 18? No.

Not sluts, RAPE VICTIMS.

And the boys should be sent away, for sure...TO JAIL, GODDAMMIT.

and here's my letter to Liston:

Mr. Liston,

It is getting more and more embarrassing to be a Coloradan, with ignorant assholes like yourself representing me. And I feel completely justified in calling you an asshole, since you feel it necessary to call young women who choose to have a baby "sluts". My mother gave birth to me when she was 16, she is now 46 and has only ever been with my father. So, because she was a pregnant teen, that makes her a slut? Come on. I guess in your opinion it would have been better if she had aborted me.

Thank you, and go fuck yourself.

Wow. I just called. I thought it would be an aid or something, but that was Rep. Liston. I gave him a piece of my mind, but I was a bit shaken.

I'm tired of this guff about "it's not statutory rape if the boy is under 18" because -- are you any less a robbery victim if the thief is under 18?

Are you serious with this? Sixteen-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to have sex with each other? That's just as puritanical as Liston.

The reason statutory rape is rape is because of the vast power differential between an adult and a minor. There is no inherent power differential between two sixteen-year-olds--no more than there is between two thirty-year-olds.

Wow. I just called. I thought it would be an aid or something, but that was Rep. Liston. I gave him a piece of my mind, but I was a bit shaken.

Please, e-mailers and telephoniers: Inform him that the correct term for male slut is "himbo."

What Mr. Liston is really trying to say is that kids need to get married when they're still in high school! If 15 year olds want to have sex, they should just get married. Marriage is, after all, the magical quick-fix pill for all of our social ills that have to do with sex. Nothing is more sacred than entering into a lifetime commitment with another person because you're horny!

*rolling eyes* Now my head hurts from trying to get any sort of logic out of this crap.

Wax: You could have abandoned the LogicQuest much earlier once you saw the (R) by his name or the fact that the offending statement was made at a GOP conference.

His buddy raped a 13-year-old girl, and then he denied working with the guy.

What Mr. Liston is really trying to say is that kids need to get married when they're still in high school! If 15 year olds want to have sex, they should just get married. Marriage is, after all, the magical quick-fix pill for all of our social ills that have to do with sex. Nothing is more sacred than entering into a lifetime commitment with another person because you're horny!

*rolling eyes* Now my head hurts from trying to get any sort of logic out of this crap.

I am tired of hearing about people, particularly politicians, trying to force their beliefs on others. He "complained that society condones premarital sex". I've read 95% of people have sex before marriage. Does he think he's more moral than 95% of the population?
And I think these conservatives need to get out into the world more. Has this guy actually had a conversation with a pregnant teenager, a homosexual, or whoever else? Not everyone has the privilege he has. And he actually thinks society condones teen pregnancy? Just because teens aren't teens aren't sent away, doesn't mean there is no shame.

I'm tired of this guff about "it's not statutory rape if the boy is under 18" because -- are you any less a robbery victim if the thief is under 18?

Are you serious with this? Sixteen-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to have sex with each other? That's just as puritanical as Liston.

The reason statutory rape is rape is because of the vast power differential between an adult and a minor. There is no inherent power differential between two sixteen-year-olds--no more than there is between two thirty-year-olds.

Wrong. The reason statutory rape is RAPE is not because the man is older, but because the victim is UNDER THE AGE OF CONSENT.

Coercion is presumed not because he's old enough to know better, but because she's NOT old enough to know better.

If he's the same age or younger than the girl, certainly a judge can take into account the utter stupidity of youth -- the same way he might take it into account if a rapist or murderer was mentally retarded or under the influence of drugs or alcohol when he committed the crime.

And keep in mind that they execute convicted murderers here in Texas even if they are mentally retarded, and especially if they were under the influence of drugs or alcohol when they committed the crime.

What's the difference between a 16-year-old rapist with the mentality of a 16-year-old, and a 30-year-old mentally retarded rapist who happens to have the mental age of a 16-year-old?

Should a 30-year-old who rapes a 16-year-old girl get the same sentence as a 16-year-old rapist, if the 30-year-old can prove that he's mentally retarded?

Interesting questions, but your logic is simply for lowering the age of consent, since you contend that 16-year-olds are, in fact "old enough to know better." Aside from the FACT that they're simply NOT, what would YOU propose as the new AngryYoungWoman Age of Consent?

15? 13? 12? 8?

And do get back to me with your revised figures when you have a daughter or niece that age, will you?

Okay, wagadog, I'll bite. I have a daughter who will soon be thirteen. She's dating a 14 year old. If they had sex, and my daughter consented of her own free will and desire, I would in no way consider her boyfriend a rapist. I'm not pushing her into having sex, but I am educating her on contraception and safety and the right and wrong reasons to say yes (right: because you really wanna do the deed; wrong: he pulls the 'if you loved me you wouuuuld' card). See, even at my daughter's tender age, I can write about her having sex without even a blush. I'm over here, not blushing. And certainly not attaching the 'rapist' label to a perfectly sweet, perfectly acceptable boy.

For the record, I don't think she's anywhere near ready to have sex, and I don't think it's fully even on her radar. And also for the record, it's exactly none of my business what she chooses to do with her body, providing she's safe (I consider it absolutely my duty to ensure she IS safe, the same way I wouldn't let her walk somewhere alone after dark).

So...I've gotten back to you. With an actual kid that age. In an actual situation where it might come up. I don't require the fainting couch, why do you?

Also, wagadog, I have a deep respect for my daughter's agency. That's really what it comes down to, isn't it? The belief that a young woman can have agency over her own body, the belief that she can and should make choices based on that agency. When you say 'all boys are rapists', you're really saying 'all girls are too stupid to consent to sex of their own free will'.

“Wrong. The reason statutory rape is RAPE is not because the man is older, but because the victim is UNDER THE AGE OF CONSENT.
Coercion is presumed not because he's old enough to know better, but because she's NOT old enough to know better.�
Uh, what? But if they are the same age, which one is the rapist? I mean what makes the 16 year old boy automatically the rapist and not the girl? Or do you want to put both of them in jail?

AAAGHHHHHHHH!

Ok, now that's out of my system I'll proceed to the contact info.

So, from your hostile rant, wagadog, I'm going to conclude that your answer is yes, you do think that sex between sixteen-year-olds should be illegal.

What the fuck would make consensual sex between two fifteen-year-olds rape? Which one would the aggressor be? Who's being harmed? Why should it be illegal? Why would you presume coercion? Is it because you don't think that people under 18 can form loving bonds and explore their sexuality? Why do you think 16 is so much closer to 8 than it is to 18? In your fantasy world, what happens? All young people abstain from all sexual contact until they turn 18, at which they magically and without any exploration or practice or learning have the ability to fully consent to sex with clear knowledge of the risks and benefits, whereas a year earlier any consensual sexual contact with a peer would have damaged them? How does that work, exactly? And how is it different from fundies arguing that sex is dirtying and sullying and awful until the day you're married, when it magically becomes a beautiful gift that you should value and love?

The reason statutory rape is RAPE is not because the man is older, but because the victim is UNDER THE AGE OF CONSENT.

That's simply not true, legally, and in my opinion it's not true morally. The rape occurs because one partner can consent and the other can't.

If two eight-year-old girls are playing doctor and they decide to explore each other's genitals, that's not rape, either. They should both probably be told that in general, that's not how we socialize, and perhaps they should be screened to make sure that neither is being sexually abused, but they're not raping each other, because they are relating as peers. Fifteen-year-olds who fall in love, or who feel romantic towards each other are also relating as peers. I really don't see why you have such a hard time differentiating between a thirty-year-old man who wields an inordinate amount of power over a young girl, and a boy of her age who has a loving, equal relationship with her?

And keep in mind that they execute convicted murderers here in Texas even if they are mentally retarded

Since I find that disgusting beyond belief, it's not exactly a convincing argument.

What's the difference between a 16-year-old rapist with the mentality of a 16-year-old, and a 30-year-old mentally retarded rapist who happens to have the mental age of a 16-year-old?

You haven't actually given me any reason to think that a 16-year-old who has consensual sex with another 16-year-old is a rapist. As sojourner asks, what would make him the rapist and not her?

By your logic, somebody who is developmentally disabled so that they never gain what we would consider full adult mental faculties should never, ever get to have sex, even with somebody of a similar status.

I hate to be shallow, but this guy just looks like a douche bag.

Creepy smile, bad combover(as if there is such a thing as a good combover!).

What a pig.

No, no, he means the mother was sent away, not the father. She was kicked out of high school and made to be a living Prometheus, all for her horrible crime of accidental pregnancy. Society can either evolve or degenerate and that seems to be what the right is all about enforcing.
We can deny sex education so our female teens are completetly ignorant about their own bodies, and when they get 'knocked up' we can blame the girl-you dirty slut! They deny abortion so we can make all those forced pregnant teens walk the gauntlett. The guy never had too. They accept the myth of Mary and Joseph which was about an unplanned pregnancy (initiated by God, which counts as child rape) torwards an adolescent girl, but not our teens.

Of course, the guy she had sex with is a stud!

I hope you guys called the Congressman's office. It's just a recording, so leave a message!

I wrote him an email:

It wouldn't be such a bad idea if you went to a doctor of human sexuality and had her explain to you what happens to adolescents during their sexual development. If nature wanted us to be sexually active when we were in our late 20's we wouldn't get our secondary sex characteristics until then. Young men and women get them at 11 or 12. Deal with it.

Instead of calling them sluts, try hard to figure out that they are fully biologically ready to have children and indeed in history you can quite clearly read about how young women were having their first children at 14-15 years old.

So I would suggest you do a little bit more research and a little less speaking until you understand human sexuality.

There you have it.

Would I be stooping if I pointed out that he kind of looks like a penis with a face?