Control of the Virginia House of Delegates is up in the air. If Republicans win, it seems almost certain they will impose more restrictions on women's health care. In a close race for one of those seats, Republicans have resorted to intimate image abuse, and are releasing sex tapes of the Democratic candidate and her husband.
It seems very strange for them to shame a married couple for having sex however they like. I thought that was the only sex Republicans openly approved of.
Susanna Gibson is a nurse practitioner and a pro-choice Democratic currently running to represent suburban Richmond, Virginia, in the state House in November. So Republicans are attempting to smear her for having sex with her husband on livestreams. An anonymous Republican leaked the archived videos to reporters in what could very likely be a sex crime. And it's all feeling like a conveniently timed story meant to distract voters from the fact that Republicans are desperate to pass an abortion ban—and Gibson is running in a toss-up district against someone who would vote to ban abortion.
Gibson and her husband, John, reportedly had an account on the website Chaturbate where they livestreamed themselves having sex and asked viewers for tips. Those videos were apparently archived on other sites without the Gibsons' knowledge—which is what the anonymous Republican operative told the Washington Post. That person also shared screenshots with the Associated Press, something Gibson's lawyer, Daniel Watkins, called "a criminal act." He told the Post he believed this was a violation of Virginia's revenge porn law, which makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor to "maliciously" distribute sexual or nude images of someone else with "intent to coerce, harass, or intimidate."
If Virginia Republicans hold the House and win control of the Senate, they could pass an abortion ban pushed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R)—a fact the Post doesn't mention until the 25th paragraph of the story. Virginia is the last state in the South without significant restrictions on abortion. Gibson told the Post that the disclosure of the videos was "an illegal invasion of my privacy designed to humiliate me and my family." She continued, "It won't intimidate me and it won't silence me."
