STRAIGHT CHILD MOLESTER VERSUS GAY CHILD MOLESTERS

by Bob Walsh

There is a very interesting pissing contest going on right now between Susan Eggman, a member of the California assembly, and Mani Grewal, a member of the Modesto city council. They are both running for the same California senate seat.

Ms. Eggman is gay. As far as I know Mr. Grewal is not.

Earlier this week Ms. Grewal posted a campaign piece on his web site with the Stanislaus County Sheriff, Jeff Dirkse. In this piece Dirkse said, "Adults who molest our children are criminals and they must register as sex offenders. Mani Grewal helped keep that law on the books. That's why I am supporting Mani Grewal for Senate. He will continue to protect our children."

The group EQUALITY CALIFORNA, a LGBTQ righs organization, went 5150 and demanded that Grewal take the piece down from his web site, asserting that it is anti-Gay. They view it as a "thinly veiled attack" on LGBTQ people.

Grewal responded, "I was alarmed when Assemblymember Eggman put her name on a bill that would allow a 21-year old man to molest my 11-year old daughter and then be exempt from registration as a sex offender."

The fight is over SB384 and SB145. According to its proponents SB384 "provides relief to LGBTQ people who have previously been required to register as sex offenders for life under laws that unfairly targeted and entrapped gay men."

SB145 similarly "provides relief to LGBTQ young people who are required to register as sex offenders for engaging in voluntary sexual activity for which their non-LGBTQ peers are not required to register." Eggman was initially listed as a supporter of this bill, but has had her name removed from it. She has not said she is opposed to it, merely that she has had insufficient time to study the particular bill. She has stated that she is a supporter of the concept in general.

I am still trying to figure out if all this means that gay child molesters are now treated different that straight child molesters, or if the people working on these bills think that gay child molestation is OK and straight child molestation is reprehensible, or what the hell is going on.