Q, non binary male MEP says rape is a spectrum and has been demonised.

[MyAquaOP]

Apologies if someone's already posted and missed it but I've not seen it from a quick scan.

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Is there some special vetting code in Green Party application process that gives bonus points to pervy men?

How are they not ashamed to have representatives like this?

Will any women who are elected as Greens to represent people make any sort of comment?

He's apparently now saying people have misunderstood what he meant. Well even if they did as he is now a public figure he should make more of an effort to communicate clearly.

For what it is worth, this is his response

https://archive.ph/C30Rs

"The point I made about demonisation was that not all rapists fit a stereotype, and that all kinds of men can and do commit it."

Well the Greens let transwoman Aimee Challenor employ his child-rapist father as election agent, after he was charged with rape. They were considering making Aimee Deputy Leader, despite the fact he was engaged to a man who openly published fiction online about his desire to have sex with children.

The Greens don't seem to do any due diligence at all.

I voted for devolution and Independence but thanks to Scotland's, frankly bonkers, PR list system allowing wankers like this into Parliament I'm seriously regretting both.

He always has an excuse. Horrible, racist, nasty man. Should never have been anywhere near Holyrood.

Alexa show me a picture of a red flag.

I agree @IwantToRetire. He was unclear and is now claiming to have been misrepresented. What a waste of time.

"He's apparently now saying people have misunderstood what he meant"

Except the explanation really isn't convincing. He's now saying that by "demonised" he meant that men who are rapists are mistakenly assumed to have a particular attitude or character. But this was a conversation about rehabilitation. If that's what he meant, he could have said so.

Likewise with "rape is a spectrum". He's now claiming he was making a point about how narrowly the law defines rape and sexual violence. Except he didn't mention sexual violence. He said specifically rape is a spectrum.

It's the political equivalent of trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube. He's essentially saying words don't mean what they ordinarily mean.

Which unfortunately will probably work. They're the Greens, after all — the "nice" ones. We'll probably end up being told the women complaining are the problem, rather than seeing any real accountability.

So sad and frustrating what has happened to the Greens. When we need a party that cares about the environment, we have instead got a party who are mainly focused on gender nonsense.

Manivannan has been catapulted from no where because he fits the Scottish Greens commitment to trans and non binary politics.

He isn’t a British citizen and didn’t have permanent residence when he was elected -
there is no question of illegality here according to the Greens. I do not say this to fuel the immigration debate I say this because he has moved so quickly through the Scottish Greens election process because he ideologically fits their narrative.

Yes, I agree. There's a huge gap for a proper serious environmental party. The Greens are not it, what a joke.

I’ve seen the clips of his interview and he’s talking a load of incomprehensible toss. The “interviewer” is very annoying, she just nods as if he’s talking sagely. If she did her job properly, she’d have stopped him and said “just what the bloody fuck are you blathering on about?”

There is something deeply troubling about a male non-binary talking about the flaws of men.

It feels like he is talking about men but the same time trying to opt out of that category

There is variation within rape eg within a relationship is different to stranger(s) in the street but all are violations of a body and completely wrong. Statutory rape isn’t as black and white so best treated as a separate situation.

I think it shows how dangerously easy it is for motivated groups to take over small parties. I hope the Greens kick him out for this but I don’t think they value women enough (at all).

"Yeah, it's a spectrum. None of which is any worse or less but it is a spectrum of things that constitute that one homogenised word, rape."

I think this was badly phrased, in fact some of it doesn't make sense, but in fairness he does not say it is a spectrum of seriousness, he says that rape can take many forms.

His statement that ends '“Any suggestion that my statements minimise or excuse rape or sexual assault are deeply false and misleading.”
seems OK.

I'm not sure that this is the worst thing a Green has ever said in this context..

This is I think what he means. But anyone subjected to this type of violation is terrified and traumatised. Stranger or someone you know doesn’t make it different. Rape is rape.

By “statutory rape”, I assume you mean offences relating to age of consent. That’s a separate issue. A child under 13 cannot legally consent to sexual activity, regardless of whether the child appears to agree to it. Therefore, category rape, although the perpetrator would argue otherwise.

You missed the full context. He initially said:

“Because there’s definitely a demonisation of rape in the sense of, it is a spectrum.”

He then said:

“Yeah, it’s a spectrum. None of which is any worse or less, but it is a spectrum of things that constitute that one homogenised word, rape.”

Without the “demonisation” comment, you could argue that “spectrum” was simply a poor choice of words. But with it that reading doesn't really work.

It's not a spectrum and rape is rape. But there is a spectrum of seriousness within rape, which is reflected in the variation within the sentencing guidelines.

Doesn't stop him comments being grim though.

Passing anecdote: I used to vaguely know Lorna Slater through a work connection, before she went bonkers (ScotGreen is/was co-leader with that Harvie twit) .

She was one of the earliest and most ardent acolytes, but EVEN SHE appears to have rowed back from the topic. She now seems focused on wool and butterflies.

He sees it from a man's point of view. Funny that.

And of course has to centre himself as the true victim here, at the end of the Times article: https://www.thetimes.com/article/b98164df-7b0e-4680-97c5-d569a7fc884b?shareToken=25a2735bbc9073f150f05f2f6a3edcc8&ver=article

I think that is it. And Polanski, and probably others.

So strange that women in the Green Party dont tell they to STFU about women's issues.

And they are meant to be a progressive party.

Have they ever heard of mansplaining?

Beyond belief that they are still blundering around talking and acting as though women's rights issues just dont exist.

Or aren't important.

“any individual is capable of rape”.

Not according to UK law

The legal definition is preferable to his bullshit

Before being elected, Manivannan told party members that as a “queer Tamil immigrant” they would be a voice for the “working class and marginalised”.

On the campaign trail, Manivannan claimed a disadvantaged, “lower caste” background, implying that they were among the most marginalised groups in Indian society, and claimed at times to have been “hungry because I was starved”.

The Times later found that Manivannan came from an upper middle-class family and attended private school in Chennai, one of India’s wealthiest cities. The Scottish Greens have stated their strong opposition to private education. It also emerged that Manivannan owns a £250,000 property in India.

How does this keep happening? People lying through their teeth and getting away with it because no one has the presence of mind to do due diligence.