In a close Virginia House of Delegates race, state Republicans are engaging in revenge porn against the leading Democratic candidate. Susanna Gibson is the lead Democrat for a seat that would help ease Republican control in the state. But instead of coming after Gibson for her political positions, the GOP has gone after Gibson in a much more personal way. Earlier this week someone from the Republican camp sent a website full of screenshots featuring Gibson and her husband engaged in sexual acts to The Associated Press.
Gibson called the distribution of her images “the worst gutter politics.” She continued that it is “an illegal invasion of my privacy designed to humiliate me and my family.” At some point prior to Gibson’s campaign announcement in 2022, she and her husband performed on a live-stream website for money. The site, called Chaturbate, is legal. Any money earned through the site by Gibson is also legal. To be clear, the creation and distribution by Gibson did not violate any laws. However, sharing these images, as Gibson said, “to silence” her, is illegal.
Don’t violate women’s bodies and privacy to win an election
Daniel Watkins, Gibson’s lawyer, pointed out that sharing the images or videos of Gibson without her consent violates Virgina’s revenge porn law. The law states “Any person who, with the intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate, maliciously disseminates or sells any videographic or still image” of a person nude or engaged in a sexual act is “guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.” Sending any images or videos of Gibson to the press is in direct violation of the revenge porn law.
Sharing these images was supposed to shame Gibson and make her look bad in the eyes of the voters. But the nurse practitioner and mother of two isn’t backing down so quietly. “My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up,” she said in a statement.
Gibson has outspoken support from other top Virginia Democrats including State Senator L. Louise Lucas. Lucas called for Dems to send their financial support to Gibson to turn the GOP’s failed “intimidation” into the “biggest fundraising day of her campaign.” This is the kind of women supporting women we love to see. (Visit Lucas’s Twitter feed for more of her brilliant posts.)
Right now, Democrats hold the Virginia state Senate by a small percentage, as the Republicans have a slight majority in the House of Delegates. This election could shift the power of the state drastically. The results of the election will either help or hinder Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin’s plans to implement more conservative legislation. This race is very important to the future of Virginia and it seems like the GOP will stop at nothing to sway it in their favor.
(via The Associated Press; featured image: Catalyst for Change, YouTube)
