Is there any veracity to the claim that “the PSL covered up SA allegations”? I hear it from people a lot. I wanna know if this is a valid concern.

(Originally posted on Ask Lemmygrad)

  • CutieBootieTootie [she/her]
    ·
    15 hours ago

    When I was first wanting to join the party, I had friends warn me and link these various documents, and frankly it gave me unease. As part of my entry to the party I asked extensively about this situation and found that the Philly PSL Branch had suspended him permanently, and he's not rejoined the party in another region since. Speaking again as someone victimized as such in the past, I feel that there are robust and answerable institutions that are responsive within the party to deal with people like this, and is exactly what made me feel okay entering organizer spaces again after some things that have happened to me in the past. There's no public document I can share though, only my own testimony as someone who's investigated this internally and willing to speak on it.

    • diegeticalt (any)@lemmygrad.ml
      ·
      15 hours ago

      I read your earlier comment as saying there were external sources that could verify the suspension?

      All I can find from what I've looked through is that he was temporarily suspended, came back, and then maybe took a leave of absence.

      Edit - Thank you for your insight! It's good to know that you were also concerned about it and have been satisfied by the processes in place now.

      • CutieBootieTootie [she/her]
        ·
        14 hours ago

        For transparency when I said external sources, I meant a statement by the PSL saying he'd been suspended as well as people who I'd met in real life willing to speak about it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ there may not exist a public document saying the words "permanently suspended" but that's my understanding internally. I hope you'll understand why a person who is working on the ground may be hesitant to write things down when even mistakes like I made are very easy to make. Frankly these things are serious but also easily able to be wielded by people who don't really care about the safety of SA survivors and just want to red bash (for example, right wingers attacking queer people with "grooming" allegations) so there's hesitancy to even give things like this fuel by discussing them publicly, but I think it's worth being open about in this situation.

        My only impressions of the party so far have been professional engagement with the serious matters of being a disciplined ML organization within the imperial core, and issues like this are clearly counter to bringing about the revolutionary change we want to see in the United States and the world. Me and other party members do a lot of work towards achieving this change and I for one would be incredibly pissed if it was wasted on interpersonal drama and protecting people with anti-social desires or tendencies.

        Edit: Also thank you for being genuinely curious and open about this discussion, it's not an easy one