I first read about this story today on Feministing, and it was so vile and outrageous that I thought the DKos Community should be aware of it.
Sources:
The Colorado Springs Gazette Article, "State lawmaker's comment about unwed parents deemed offensive"
Rocky Mountain News Article, "Lawmaker sorry about 'sluts'"
Colorado General Assemblyman, Larry Liston, said that pregnant teenagers are "sluts" yesterday during the GOP caucus in Denver. This comment was made while Liston was speaking to his fellow Republicans about the "destructive epidemic" of teenage pregnancy:
"In my parents' day and age, (unmarried teen parents) were sent away, they were shunned, they were called what they are," Liston had said during the GOP caucus meeting. "There was at least a sense of shame."
Liston continued: "There's no sense of shame today. Society condones it ... I think it's wrong. They're sluts. And I don't mean just the women. I mean the men, too." (Emphasis Added)
Even some within his own party have expressed outrage. Fellow Republican, Garza Hicks (R-Colorado Springs), later spoke out against Liston's comments, telling the Gazette Newspaper:
"I feel that he owes the apology somewhere, whether it's to the same group that he spoke to before or someone else".
Liston's response has been far from apologetic. While he did admit that perhaps he used a poor choice of words, he had the following to say when asked by a Rocky Mountain News blogger if his mother would approve of what he said:
"Actually, my mother would agree with me," he said as he hurried to a committee hearing.
"Maybe I could have a used a different word, but I was frustrated," Liston said. "And that was the word that came to my mind, because in the old days, you know, it was frowned upon."
My take on the situation:
It scares me that this man has the power to legislate in Colorado. What kind of person looks back fondly on shaming women in the good ol' days? His feeble attempt to hide his sexism by including "I mean the men, too" is pathetic. After all, how many times have you heard men referred to as "sluts"? How many teenage males were "sent away" or "shunned" because of their role in a pregnancy? Funny, I don't remember the stories about families sending their teenage boys away to live in "special homes" run by nuns for the duration of the pregnancy.
I know that we are all very busy politically right now, but I think that this level of misogyny, disrespect, and offensiveness requires action on our part. If you agree, contact Rep. Liston and let him know that calling young women "sluts" is not okay.