Can You Love Someone Who Did Bad Things?

It’s been weeks now since the Harvey Weinstein allegations brought forth an avalanche of similar accusations against people like Kevin Spacey, Ben Affleck, and George H. W. Bush, to name a few. The thought that such powerful men would use their influence to force themselves on these women is sickening, but for me, the worst person uncovered by this avalanche of allegations is Louis C. K.

I’ve been watching his stand-up for years and have considered him my favorite comedian for some time now. He’s always been known as a more irreverent comedian because…

When the news came out that multiple women had come forward about encounters with Louis C. K. in which he masturbated in front of them, I was heartbroken. Of course, I am first and foremost heartbroken for the victims. But I am also heartbroken because a person I admire did something so horrible.

A few days after the news broke, I was having a conversation with a friend and something he said reminded me of a great Louis C. K. joke. I asked if he had heard the joke, and he replied with “there’s no such thing as a great Louis C. K. joke anymore.” This got me thinking- can I still watch his comedy specials even though I hate what he did?

If I -someone who has never personally met Louis C. K.- am so conflicted about this, I can only imagine what his friends and family are going through. He has two young daughters and relatives and friends and colleagues. What do they all make of this?

Very few people make it as comedians, so it comes as no surprise that those who do are usually very close. One of Louis C. K.’s closest friends is Sarah Silverman, another hilarious giant of comedy. Silverman has a particularly complicated situation on her hands, being both a friend of his for twenty-five years and also being a woman who often speaks out about women’s rights. On Thursday night, she used to her show, “I Love You, America,” to finally address the “elephant masturbating in the room”:

Silverman handles the situation with grace and honesty, which, considering how she must feel, is admirable. She reminds us that “This recent calling out of sexual assault has been a long time coming, it’s good. It’s like cutting out tumors — it’s messy and it’s complicated and it is gonna hurt, but it’s necessary and we’ll all be healthier for it.”

She also mentions that one of the women who brought forth accusations was an aspiring comedian and that she was so turned off by the incident that she decided to quit comedy altogether. When Silverman talks about this, you can almost hear the slight break in her voice. As a female comedian, Silverman knows how much harder it is to make it in comedy as a woman and all the subtle sexism that comes with it, even after you’ve found as much success as she has.

She doesn’t ever really answer the question of whether or not you can love someone who did bad things, but she does make it clear how conflicted she is. She then leaves us with: “I believe with all my heart that this moment in time is essential, it’s vital that people are held accountable for their actions, no matter who they are. We need to be better. We will better. I can’t fucking wait to be better.”

Me too, Sarah. Me too.

-Marie Pruitt

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Debt Sucks

Especially if you live in any of these states.

Do you live in any of the 20 states above and have student debt? Then I have terrible news for you. If you happen to default on your loan, the state can legally take away your professional or driver’s license.

The New York Times reports that there have been at least 8,700 cases in which licenses were taken away. One example is the case of Shannon Otto. She was a successful nurse working in Tennessee. Unfortunately, she started suffering from epileptic seizures. She was forced to quit her job so she was unable to make payments on her student debt. When she was healthy enough to work again, she found out she couldn’t return to work. Her nursing license was suspended. If she wanted to get her license back then she would have to pay $1500 to the state. Hey Tennessee! Explain to me how she can pay you back without a job!? A job she can’t work because you took away her license!

It is not just nurses who are being targeted. Teachers across the country are also losing their licenses to teach. This year Texas released a list of 390 teachers who will not be able to renew their certifications unless they start to pay. One teacher couldn’t pay her $800 monthly student loan bill. Like Shannon above, she is now without a job.

Then there are those of us who don’t receive a professional license with our degree. If we aren’t teachers or nurses are we then safe from getting our kneecaps busted by the state mafia? Turns out they take away your driver’s license. In New York City that might be seen as an inconvenience. For the majority of the country losing your license is like losing your ability to work. It is the only means to get to work for people living in cities without public transportation. According to The Guardian, “75% of those who have their licenses suspended keep driving”. They take the risks because they can’t afford to miss work or they need to drive go to a doctor’s appointment. Now they are in danger of being arrested and sent to jail.

So what exactly does the state want these people to do? These people are being criminalized for being poor. Something that I am most definitely guilty of. So how can we start to pay if we can’t work?

-Brayan De Los Rios Guisao

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New Gender Legislation

Earlier this week, the Constitutional court in Southern Germany has ruled that the government must recognize a third gender category, which could be identified as “intersexual” or “diverse,” on official state documents and birth certificates for people who do not identify as either male or female or individuals who are born with ambiguous genitalia that do not fit into the traditional male and female classifications. Prior to this ruling, it has been possible for parents to leave the gender box blank on a birth certificate in Germany. Under this new ruling, however, newborn babies can now be registered as neither male nor female on their birth certificates. Because the German Constitution guarantees the right to personal freedom, including sexual identity, the court argues that the existing law’s limitation on binary gender options to only male or female was discriminatory, thereby violating such freedom. After this ruling, the Constitutional court has given the government until the end of next year to implement this legislation.

While this ruling indicates a progressive sign in Germany, other oversea countries have also taken similar steps. Countries such as Australia, India, Nepal, and New Zealand, for instance, have in their legislation made third gender an option on official state documents. According to New York Times, although Thailand has demonstrated effort to recognize third gender in its Constitution, the country has not made that an option on official documents. Recently in June, Canada also has, for the first time, allowed a newborn to be listed as “U,” for unspecified or unknown, as their gender on a health document – and in that same period, Canada has also began issuing passports with a third gender option (see NYT link). And just last month, California Governor Jerry Brown, moreover, signed the Senate Bill 179, in which Californians, under the bill, will be able to choose “nonbinary” as a gender on their driver’s licenses and can change their birth certificates with very little resistance to reflect the gender they identify with (see NYT link).

Despite the increase in awareness, there is still a lack of knowledge or acceptance surrounding intersex individuals. Intersex groups, for instance, are still fighting against harmful medical surgeries on intersex infants—for more on this topic, check my previous post here. Most prison systems, in fact, do not have written policies addressing how to determine where sex and gender nonconforming prisoners should be housed. Most correctional facilities, for instance, generally assign prisoners to facilities on the basis of appearance of their genitalia and they do not have separate units for sex and gender nonconformists – and this is a very big issue for intersex individuals whose genitals do not fit into the binary male and female classifications. Transgender and intersex prisoners are typically housed in facilities that do not match their gender self-identity – and as a result, they are subjected to sexual and the other abuses.

While there are still on-going challenges surrounding the intersex community, the ruling from Germany does serve as a positive development as well as an important step for the intersex people in both Germany and the community as a whole because it raises awareness to many that not only is gender a social construct but there are also more than two genders. Since this is my last news briefs, I do want to leave you all on this note in particular because I believe only by constantly engaging in conversations on this issue and focusing on the needs of these groups will we actually reach a more—if not completely—inclusive society.

— Jason