[Trigger warning].
At least, that's the message of most coverage of the Mary Kay LeTourneau-hosted "Hot for Teacher" night, which happened at a nightclub here in Seattle last week. (Letourneau was convicted in 1997 for raping her former student, Vili Fualaau, when he was 12 and she was 34. They were married in 2005 and have two daughters together).
"It sounds too crazy to be true--but it is!" Extra crowed, adding coyly, "minors were not allowed." TMZ called the event Letourneau's "Naughty teacher feature." People suggested Seattle-area readers attend the event, hosted by "that head of the class blast from the past." And FOX news noted that LeTourneau became "famous" in the 1990s for "having an affair with a sixth grader."
Um... the fuck? It's one thing to condone creepy schoolgirl fantasies (see: the poster for this very event, linked here, plus every fetish night in the world); it's quite another to hold a party for a convicted child rapist who began grooming her victim when he was in the second grade. Would a nightclub have hosted a similar party for this guy, who raped three boys, between 6 and 10? Or this guy, 25, who raped a 12-year-old girl? Or this guy, 24, who raped a 10-year-old girl? Or the first two guys in this post--self-defense instructors who raped their female teenage students?
Of course not. And we shouldn't give Letournau a pass just because she's a sweet-looking white lady and her now-husband says he gave his consent. Victimization is victimization, even when it comes in a female (and thus non-"threatening") package.
Also, as Sable Verity notes: A rapist can marry her victim, and gay couples are seen as the "threat" to marriage?
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