An Indiana Joint Committee was discussing a sex education bill. There was concern because Republican State Senator Gary Byrne amended the bill to remove the part about teaching consent. To worsen the problem, he admitted that he made the decision arbitrarily, without consulting with any experts, and tried to kick the can down the road, claiming that it was a local control issue:
STATE REP ANDREA HUNLEY: What groups were consulted with in the removal of the section about consent? What groups?
STATE SEN GARY BYRNE: Nobody come to me as a decision that I made to not have it in there.
HUNLEY: And so, I’m confused though because your expertise is not in human sexuality instruction that I’m aware of. And so, I’m wondering, did you consult with any experts about whether or not this is suitable to be removed, especially in a state where right now it’s one in five or one in four of our teenage girls experience a sexual assault or sexual abuse or sexual harassment before they leave and leave high school. And so, I’m just wondering what experts were consulted with.
BYRNE: Yeah, so I appreciate your concerns. Again, this is a sensitive subject for many. I believe it may be different thoughts in different communities and this is what the bill does. It leaves for the most part local control on making those decisions and so that’s my response.
In another clip from Heartland Signal, State Rep Tonya Pfaff explained the importance of consent. Byrne agreed with what Pfaff said bur refused to budge and wouldn’t allow a uniform, statewide approach to the subject.
The fact of the matter is that it’s not a local issue. Byrne is using that lame excuse for kicking the can down the road and trying to weasel taking a firm anti-rape stance. Rape and sexual harassment has been part of the GOP culture for decades. By far, the clearest example is the man they voted to be president. They praised a man who was legally adjudicated to having raped a woman, who openly bragged about sexually assaulting women and who was repeatedly pictured with known sex traffickers and even considered one to be the nation’s top cop. But the part just blew it all off as no big deal.
As they say, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature with the GOP.