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George Takei accused of sexual assault.

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Did Macfarlane know about this as well?

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I found a video online where Takei put ointment on another guy's butt because of an insect bite. After he finished putting the ointment on he stroked his butt too. Which I suppose can fit into the definition of sexual assault. The video is titled "george looks after joe's bum" :ack:
 
The thing with implied consent is that it depends on the what the person is thinking too. If he believed he had implied consent then to his knowledge he did not knowingly act without consent. He would no longer have implied consent once he was told to stop. He did stop when the person told him to stop.

What we have here (in the post above) is a MASSIVE double standard. If any man ADMITTED in an interview that he groped women who were AFRAID to try to "persuade" them, that man would RIGHTLY be called a predator. But even though George said that exact same thing, the post above is arguing about implied/implicit consent. Stop with the double standard. If it is sexual assault for a man to grope a WOMAN who is AFRAID, then it is ALSO sexual assault when George ADMITTED he groped men who were AFRAID.
 
If it is sexual assault for a man to grope a WOMAN who is AFRAID, then it is ALSO sexual assault when George ADMITTED he groped men who were AFRAID.

I disagree with @marsh8472 too but I don't like your implication that gay folks are "shielded" from accusations and straight people aren't. This is not how the world works. Being gay doesn't make you privileged.

One of the ways homophobia worked historically, and still works today, is through the misconception that supposedly all homosexuals are "crypto sexual offenders". So this assumption of yours that people believe more in gay folks than straight people is not only a massive distortion of reality... It's also disrespectful to the plight the gay community has endured through the years.

I listened to the Takei interview and I do agree that his remarks are horrible. I'm disappointed with George because of that. You don't touch people who are hesitant of having sex with you. You don't try to "persuade" people who are afraid and skittish to have sex with you. Period.

What some people are trying to explain is that what he said in the interview doesn't automatically translate as an admission of guilt to the stuff he is accused of doing in 1981. The 1981 allegations have elements that are not present in the Stern interview. In no point during this interview Takei said he tried to have sex with people that didn't consent and in no point he said he tried to have sex with people who were passed out.
 
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What we have here (in the post above) is a MASSIVE double standard. If any man ADMITTED in an interview that he groped women who were AFRAID to try to "persuade" them, that man would RIGHTLY be called a predator. But even though George said that exact same thing, the post above is arguing about implied/implicit consent. Stop with the double standard. If it is sexual assault for a man to grope a WOMAN who is AFRAID, then it is ALSO sexual assault when George ADMITTED he groped men who were AFRAID.
Yeah well double standard or not if a man did this to a women under the same circumstances that could be a legal defense depending on where they live.
 
Yeah well double standard or not if a man did this to a women under the same circumstances that could be a legal defense depending on where they live.

It might be a defense if it were only his word vs hers, but if you had a tape of the man saying what George did, that would be open and shut. You lose your ability to claim you even THOUGHT you had consent when you ADMIT the person was skittish or AFRAID. What part of that do you not understand?
 
With a stranger, a young relationship, a one night stand, etc. you're on much thinner ice. You have no real knowledge of them or their 'signals' or wishes or views. It is never going to be defensible to 'assume' with a stranger.
If you're in the dating scene, the interest signals are pretty standard. How someone looks at you, facial expressions, body language, and content of what they're saying all align to send certain signals. Of course, before meeting, the signals from a distance may present a challenge, as often people will flirt passively. Once you're engaged in conversation, the signals ramp up. Disinterest is painfully obvious and serious interest is usually quite obvious as well. Semi-interest is the gray zone, where you aren't sure yet if it's only general curiosity or if there's real interest but the other person is trying to hide a good bit of it (undecided or just playing it cool).

The gray zone is the complexity in an early engagement. Some people will exaggerate their interpretation and believe someone is more interested than they actually are. Feedback will tell, how increased flirtation is met. If the feedback signals start growing colder, then it's clear that more serious interest is not at play here. And if they grow warmer, then it's an OK to keep going. If they're somewhere in between, but the other person remains engaged, then the "evaluation" is taking longer or perhaps they're just enjoying the attention without any intention of going beyond the moment. Where things go awry is when one person is not good with reading signals, or, they don't care how the other person feels and will continue their pursuit. Eventually the person not wanting sexual attention will have to present a very obvious response. And if that doesn't work then it's time to leave.

From my own experience, I had a long period where I was terrible at reading signals. Because of my self esteem. It's hard to believe someone's really interested in you when you're not very confident in yourself. I'd lost a number of opportunities where women simply thought I wasn't really interested. Later on I'd sometimes find out and be pissed as all hell at myself. So in time, I learned how naive I was about signals. It's a whole other language you have to learn if you're going to be serious about meeting new potential dating partners... or you're going to flounder for a long time until you finally date someone steady. But when you become accustomed, a lot of clarity is gained. You are able to read people pretty well. And those who like to play games become much more obvious. As a guy, it's pretty easy to fend off interest from a woman for who you have no interest. Women will almost always relent. It's the other side of the coin that can be a problem. A lot of guys just don't seem to quite understand when NO really means "NO". And they have to be given sufficient feedback to understand that.
 
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I think marsh8472 might be thinking of things of like, When is okay to make the first move and maybe try and kiss someone. Seeing as how I have basically no dating experience I am kind of curious myself how to notice mood shifts and how to know when someone wants you to kiss them and when you don't. I mean do people literally say "Can I kiss you now?" The impression I have always gotten is that people usually go more on instinct than they do with literally saying what they want in words. Also how does being drunk get in the way of this instinct because doesn't that cloud people's ability to read singles?

Jason
One excellent example recently seen on TV comes from Discovery. Love or hate the series, in the most recent episode, Ash and Michael are talking, it's getting emotional, and he very quietly (you can barely hear him) says, "C'mere."

She could have easily said no or backed away or even hugged him or communicated something like, "I can't." or "I don't feel that way about you." etc. Instead, they kissed.

In the previous episode (the time loop one), they also kiss, and it's after she's said she knows he likes her and she likes him back. So the attraction was set out clearly, no one was plastered in either situation, and consent was obvious.

Asking can be unbelievably sexy. Over thirty years ago, I dated a guy in law school and he asked me (in this delightful North Carolina accent), "Shall we retire to the bedroom?" I thought it was funny the way he'd said it so overly formally but the answer was yes and we dated on an off for much of school.
 
It might be a defense if it were only his word vs hers, but if you had a tape of the man saying what George did, that would be open and shut. You lose your ability to claim you even THOUGHT you had consent when you ADMIT the person was skittish or AFRAID. What part of that do you not understand?
The part of it that I don't know is the context. An example I can think of is I was on a date one time and was shy or skittish since I did not know the person, how to act, or anything else. But then she asked questions like "why aren't you sitting next to me?" and "why haven't you kissed me?". Which sent me the message that she was expecting me to be doing those things all along but according to you that would be sexual assault if I had.

All we have in this case is 2 people were supposed to be friends. If his side of the story is true then for some reason he thought he was within bounds. We know the alleged victim had a fuzzy memory. And we know that Takei stopped when he was told to stop.
 
Did Macfarlane know about this as well?

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remember Ben Stiller made a joke about Takei when he was speaking at one of those Trek anniversary shows
 
Star Trek has no shortage of episodes with people being falsely accused of something

TOS "Wolf in the Fold"
TOS "Court Martial"
TOS "Journey to Babel"
TAS "Albatross"
Star Trek 6
TNG "A Matter of Perspective"
TNG "The Drumhead"
TNG "Aquiel"
TNG "Sins of the Father"
VOY "Ex Post Facto"
VOY "Retrospect"
VOY "Random Thoughts"
VOY "The Chute"
DS9 "Hard Time"
DS9 "Inquisition"
DS9 "The Collaborator"
DS9 "A Man Alone"
DS9 "Rules of Engagement"
DS9 "Dax"
DS9 "Tribunal"
ENG "Judgment"
 
Star Trek has no shortage of episodes with people being falsely accused of something

TOS "Wolf in the Fold"
TOS "Court Martial"
TOS "Journey to Babel"
TAS "Albatross"
Star Trek 6
TNG "A Matter of Perspective"
TNG "The Drumhead"
TNG "Aquiel"
TNG "Sins of the Father"
VOY "Ex Post Facto"
VOY "Retrospect"
VOY "Random Thoughts"
VOY "The Chute"
DS9 "Hard Time"
DS9 "Inquisition"
DS9 "The Collaborator"
DS9 "A Man Alone"
DS9 "Rules of Engagement"
DS9 "Dax"
DS9 "Tribunal"
ENG "Judgment"

And in how many of those stories did they also have a tape of the person ADMITTING to innapropriate behavior? The answer, of course, is none. And that is why those episodes are irrelevant to this situation. When someone ADMITS to non consensual groping, they lose any presumption of innocence. And rightly so!
 
Yeah TNG "The Drumhead" and TNG "Aquiel" too. They were caught lying to investigators which led people to wrongfully assume the worst. I think this guy is emotional because he knows it can't be proved at the moment :biggrin: The accuser claims they were friends but takei says he doesn't remember him. If the accuser can come up with some pictures of him and Takei together we can go from there.
 

Maybe so, but here is the difference. Takei is accused of sexual assault. In his own words he has admitted to non consensual groping, which IS sexual assault. Regardless of whether this "new" SPECIFIC allegation is true, he has already admitted to the SAME thing. Do any of those episodes in question share that same scenario? Where the person has actually admitting to doing the very thing they are accused of?
 
Maybe so, but here is the difference. Takei is accused of sexual assault. In his own words he has admitted to non consensual groping, which IS sexual assault. Regardless of whether this "new" SPECIFIC allegation is true, he has already admitted to the SAME thing. Do any of those episodes in question share that same scenario? Where the person has actually admitting to doing the very thing they are accused of?
Yea "Random Thoughts"
 
I was stunned and disappointed to hear this. Usually, I like to give the person doing the accusing the benefit of the doubt or at least take the accusation seriously. I admit though this time I am biased in wanting it to be a big fat lie. However, this could just as likely be true. I fear this whole affair is going to be a long and ugly one.
 
Yea "Random Thoughts"

Haven't seen it, but if you are telling me that in that episode someone is accused of something they admitted doing, I hope they were punished.

Likewise, the behavior Takei admitted to in his Stern interview is actually sexual assault. So regardless of whether the one specific person currently accusing him is legit or not, I can only say I'm glad this accusation has brought to light what he admitted doing, and hopefully he will pay the price for it.
 
Seems strange how all these allegations ae rearing their heads all at the same time! Maybe it's true, maybe it's not but it will get the accuser a lot of attention and the reverse for the accused!
JB

Dude, come on. Not to victim-shame or be doubtful, but George's response to this incident, plus the fact that he's been calling out other people lends some credence to his own story. That said, man, you can't just assume that people are doing this for attention.

How about right after the assault happened? Not decades later when there's no proof other than a "memory."

Yes but who do you believe? Who are the real victims and who are the ones making it up just to pile on? That's one of the problems when you don't have proof. Now non-victims have a powerful weapon to destroy someone's career without having to present a shred of evidence.

At the very least, maybe this "movement" will encourage real victims to speak out immediately, instead of keeping it bottled up for years.

Man, you don't know what you're talking about. Yeah, sure, humanity is full so much evil that it's a foregone conclusion that some accusations are going to be malicious and false. But do you know how much of this goes on , legit?

Sometimes you don't say something because you don't think anyone will believe you and that you'll look stupid. Maybe you're in denial and start to make up alternate theories in your head "It was a misunderstanding. I should have been more clear."

"If I say something now, a few days later, they'll ask why I didn't say something immediately" becomes weeks, months, years.

"You're a guy, she's a woman. You must have wanted or enjoyed it."

"Why didn't you try to stop them or do something right then?"


Nobody asked these questions, but the scenario went round and round in my head for 16 years. Sometimes when you speak up the words just sound unbelievable coming out of your mouth that you feel you have to alter the story to not sound so bad. And yeah, it did take this campaign. That's campaign, not "campaign". to get me to really say something again.

#MeToo
 
I found the accuser's facebook then found the accuser's husband's facebook account where he said this yesterday evening:

After reading the most ridiculous article on "Daily Kos" by Karen Wehrstein about my husband, I have decided I cannot trust the journalistic integrity of this group and have unsubscribed. I urge others to do the same. To accuse us of being part of a "Russian Conspiracy" is the height of ignorance. It has nothing to do with politics but does have to do with calling out hypocrisy regardless of whose. It is hard being a "true liberal" because sometimes you have to call out even those of your own political persuasion.

From that I gather that this wasn't really about getting an apology out of Takei but rather going after him because he was going after other sexual predators and they wanted to expose the hypocrisy of it.
 
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