Nope, Richard Black, just because ‘she’s in a nightie’ does not give you consent
As he campaigns in the GOP primary for a congressional seat, Virginia state legislator Richard Black has come under renewed scrutiny for his comments on social issues. He’s vehemently opposed to gay rights, and as recently as 2002 he questioned legislation protecting against spousal rape, on the grounds that it would be impossible to convict a husband when “they’re living together, sleeping in the same bed, she’s in a nightie, and so forth.”
Ultimately, after delivering those remarks on the floor, he voted for the bill. Unfortunately for him, it’s a memorable quote. And there are plenty more opinions like that where this came from.
One feels almost sorry for him. It’s the Internet’s electoral ritual. One of the occupational hazards of running for national office on the right is how people go rooting through your comments from decades ago to make certain you didn’t express any opinion that falls into the category of Things Todd Akin Might Say.
It can be downright annoying when people dig through your comments from decades ago and discover that you called rape in the military “as predictable as human nature.” Just express a moment’s concern about people in nighties taking advantage of laws to ruin their husbands’ reputations, and suddenly that’s the quote that rings in everyone’s ears, no matter how you voted. Unfortunately, the only sure way to prevent people from doing this is not to, er, say things like that. Which should not be so difficult, especially if, as your staff wrote in an e-mail to the Loudoun Progress: “Black was not taking a position for or against marital rape.”
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