This week in Batty State Lawmaker News, teens in Washington State lobbied for reproductive health services and, instead of respect, they got slut shamed.
A group of teens from the Washington State teen council of Planned Parenthood had the chance to go to the state capitol and learn about exercising their First Amendment right to petition the government for redress of grievances. Their grievance is that their state doesn't provide enough insurance coverage for birth control, so they asked for support of bills that expand coverage. Instead of treating the teens as citizens with a legitimate and well-thought-out set of requests, Rep Mary Dye asked if they were virgins and gave them what she calls “motherly” advice about their sex lives.
Apparently no one in the room was as big an asshole as I am because I would have jumped out of my seat and screamed, “Hold up there, lady. That’s none of your damn business, and get your nose out of my bedroom, thank you very much.”
Some lawmakers have a nasty habit of policing the morals of their constituents despite the fact that their job is to promote the common good, not promote their own ideas about sex and sexuality. They are seldom this blatant about it, however. Usually they speak in front of prayer breakfasts and use sweeping generalities instead of interrogating constituents one on one.
Rep. Dye apologized for making the teens uncomfortable, but we’re still awaiting her apology for being a nosy twit.
