Men & Dogs in Texas

Molly Ivins used to remind us regularly that Texas is a fine place for men and dogs, but hell on women and horses.I’d like to ask how long Democrats are OK letting that be the status quo, because I, for one, am ready for us to do better.

Exhibit A: First-time candidate Pervez Agwan, who has tried to frame himself as progressive.

AOC-inspired graphic design and stringing buzzy slogans together, however, does not a progressive make.

After allegations that he not only tolerated sexual harassment by a key staffer, but also directly harassed at least one young woman he had hired, he pulled a move so well-known to targets of misogynistic behavior that it has an acronym, the DARVO.

• DENY: When news broke that a former staffer had filed a civil suit alleging sexual harassment and false imprisonment, he “called the lawsuit politically motivated and said the allegations are “unequivocally false.””
  
• ACCUSE: In a singularly odious accomplishment, he didn’t just blame someone else. He added a heaping helping of antisemitism to the mix, bizarrely blaming AIPAC, the American Israsel Public Affairs Committee for the lawsuit, a line of attack he’s continuing to promote. He didn’t even see the accuser as someone with the agency to form her own conclusion about his campaign’s refusal to create a safe working environment.
  
• REVERSE VICTIM AND OFFENDER: This is the inevitable moment in any story of rape, assault, or harassment–someone will protest that we cannot possibly hold this man accountable for his behafior becuase it might ruin his life.
  
  The line that just about did me because of how it reminded me of so many situations I and my friends have been in was another former stafffer recounting the candidate’s lament after two of them spoke to him about misogynistic behavior from his Organizing Director.

“He was curing a lot…asking why this was happening to him again.”

Why this was happening to him.

Sure, young women on the campaign were subjected to demeaning and dehumanizing sexual objectification, but the thing he focused on was what was happening to him.

And the latest from the Houston Landing suggests he’s still focused on himself and not fixing the problem or learning anything from the experience.

A spokesperson for the campaign invited the Houston Landing to interview Campaign Manager Alex Inkiow in late December. Inkiow offered an account of four months of internal strife while denying the key allegations against Agwan and Organizing Director Angelo Perlera. His assertions were contradicted in separate interviews with several ex-staffers accusing Perlera, Agwan and a former senior campaign staff member of sexual misconduct. 

Inkiow’s key claim that senior staff were unaware of any reported inappropriate workplace behavior by Perlera prior to a lawsuit being filed on Dec. 1 is contradicted by text messages shared by former staffers and the campaign’s own statement in response to the filing of the lawsuit. 

The campaign did not respond to requests from the Landing for any internal correspondence that could support its claim that it was unaware of the allegations, and Agwan failed to appear for a scheduled interview.

From “Agwan campaign is trying to move past misconduct allegations. Its accusers won’t let it,” by Paul Cobler, Houston Landing, published January 18, 2024.

A few years back, some brave souls tried to organize to protect the next generation of young, idealistic people entering the regressive field of Texas politics and policy. Olivia Messer wrote about the Burn Book of Bad Men. This spreadsheet populated from anonymous submissions about various politicians and operatives around the lege and throughout the state was meant to show anyone experiencing this bad behavior that they were not alone.

A small circle of men I respect and admire asked how they should respond, how they could help. They took part in a series of meetings about it.

I picked a brand new spiral notebook to document our plans.

Reader, I regret to inform you that its pages are largely blank.

Not entirely blank, though, because many of them were on hand to rally others when one brave woman who was only too familiar with the behavior that got men included in that Burn Book, took action. Voice shaking, she stepped to the mic in front of an auditorium full of people she knew, had worked alongside, and had advocated for, and she asked that the Houston LGBT Political Caucus (now the LGBTQ+ Caucus) deny Borris Miles the organization’s endorsement given his documented-by-police-and-court-records misogynistic and violent behavior that included brandishing a pistol during an argument and forcibly kissing a woman at a party.

I was there. I spoke up in support of that first woman, and I was shaking, too. A friend noticed and came to stand right by my side, and he stayed there the whole time providing more support than he might have realized as a line of very powerful people, many of whom were elected officials, basically said look, he’s one of our guys, and Democrats can’t afford to lose any guys, so we’re backing this guy.

But the body voted to deny that endorsement. Had my friend not been standing so close, I would have collapsed. I definitely cried. I had no idea how much sadness, anger, and fear I was carrying until the results were announced.

It was a blip, though. It wasn’t the beginning of a new era, and when stories like this latest one come out, it is hard to be optimistic.

Now, it can be done, so we can’t lose hope.

Even the Republican-dominated Texas House of Representatives wasn’t willing to turn a blind eye when the story broke that one of its sanctimonious family values champions, now former Rep. Bryan Slaton, had engaged in what gets euphemistically called “inappropriate sexual conduct” with a campaign staffer. The House, to its great credit, did its own investigation and kicked him out.

The vote was unanimous. That’s a pretty big blip.

I am sorry that they have to be the ones to do it, but I hope the people who’ve left Agwan’s campaign keep this issue in front of voters. I don’t care how progressive his values may be–we simply cannot continue to reward behavior like this in politicians, or we’ll never truly build an equitable democracy.

I appreciate the Houston Landing for continuing to report on the story. We need journalism like this, so I hope their board and EIC can restore trust and keep the momentum going.

And look, you may not know me, but if you’re in politics and someone has assaulted you, or propositioned you, or leered at you late at night in the office after you suddenly realize once again he’s managed to arrange things so that the two of you are the only ones left working, tell someone.

If you don’t know who to tell, tell me. Because I promise you, you’re not the only one, and you won’t be the last one. I’ll keep your secret, because your story isn’t mine to tell unless you give me permission to do so. I’ll encourage you to tell it. I’ll help you find the people who can support and protect you. Or I’ll just listen, if that’s what you need, and I’ll believe you.