A Twitter engineer and transgender activist on Tuesday pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors as part of a plea deal in connection with rape charges involving her wife.
Dana McCallum, who was arrested earlier this year on suspicion of rape and served four days in County Jail, pleaded guilty in San Francisco Superior Court to one count of domestic violence and one count of false imprisonment.
As part of the deal, which included dropping the felony rape charge, McCallum will be on probation for three years and must attend substance abuse counseling for 52 weeks.
McCallum would not comment outside the Hall of Justice after her plea, but her wife read a victim’s statement in court.
“We are a long way from being blushing brides in 2007 and a long way from nine months ago,” began the statement. “Both events seem like yesterday. I still love you as much as I did on our wedding day, truth be told. As I remember that day and the awful hours of that night in January, it’s so painful to reconcile these two experiences. It’s so painful to reconcile these two experiences.”
She went on to say, “I want you to know how difficult this was to report. I didn’t think anyone would believe me, as is often the case with rape victims. …I never anticipated that hitting your bottom would hurt me or my family.”
The statement also said McCallum had betrayed the LGBT community, which itself failed to support a victim who only received public support from hate groups.
A restraining order remains in place and divorce proceedings between the two continue.
McCallum's first lawyer said the victim accused McCallum of rape in an attempt to get more money as part of their divorce settlement. McCallum was set to cash in on substantial Twitter stock and the lawyer implied that the victim was motivated by monetary gains. But under California law, assets like stock are to be split equally.
McCallum, 31, who was born a male, openly identifies as a female and her legal name is Dana Contreras. She was charged Jan. 29 with five felonies, including three counts of spousal rape, one count of false imprisonment and one count of domestic violence, according to the District Attorney's Office. McCallum initially pleaded not guilty to those charges.
McCallum is well-known in the tech world and writes for several online publications. Model View Culture, for which she wrote about transgender people and women in tech in January 2013, contains a profile that reads, "Dana McCallum has been working in software engineering and engineering leadership since 2000. As an advocate for women in technology and the LGBT community, Dana helped create advocacy teams at Twitter and other companies, served as a delegate on women's issues in India, and speaks regularly at events focused on women and LGBT people in tech."
A December story in Business Insider listed McCallum as one of the most important gay people in the tech world.
"Dana McCallum, a senior engineer at Twitter, is one of the geniuses behind Twitter. As a transgender woman, McCallum has previously said that she finds Twitter a great place to work when it comes to being LGBT-friendly," the publication noted.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancis...nt?oid=2761316
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Any violent act toward women is disturbing. This is more disturbing for the overall facts involved.
1. The perpetrator in this case is being held up as a LGBT activist who frequently speaks to womens issues and rights, and women in technology.
The perpetrator has also spoken to the issue of rape albeit in an odd way i.e.
“If our main goal is to protect women from getting raped, then not only should we be educating young men on what constitutes rape but we also should be educating young women on the type of behaviors that make them blinking lights that scream Victimize Me,” the story reads. Link
Rape is about one exercising their power over another. It is about one thinking they have the right or privilege to do as they please to another person. Babies, children, adults, senior citizens, animals and such are raped.
Saying any of these groups make themselves out to be "blinking lights that scream victimize me" is very offensive to women. It also demonstrates a basic lack of knowledge of womens issues.
The victim is never responsible for or the cause of the behavior of the rapist.
2. The victim has received little, if any support from their own community. In the radical community, it appears the general feeling is one cannot easily support the victim without being accused of a "cultural bias against transpersons" or being labeled transphobic.
That is a terrible reason to not support a victim. It also represents a cultural bias against women standing up for other women. And, it seeks to silence women from addressing issues which affect women.
3. There is confusion as to how to label this. Is it lesbian violence? Is it woman-woman violence? Is it male-female violence? I dont the answer to that one. I do know women, statistically, are not known for perpetuating violence. Male violence against women is well known and statistically disturbing. The male mentality of entitlement and solving problems with violence is well known and well documented.
4. The "media" has tried to circumvent the issue by using this case to write about sexual violence against transpersons. Statistics are produced in such a way to give one pause. Except, there is the noticeable omission of the mention of who is perpetrating this sexual violence - men.
5. Most disturbing to me, personally, is the need to keep portraying this perpetrator, who pleaded quilty, as a "spokesperson" for womens issues or one who has done so much for women in tech.
Their behavior is simply misogynistic and it needs to be called what it is. Women do not need spokespeople who exhibit and demonstrate a hatred toward those they are professing to stand up for. And, we certainly, do not need a spokesperson who speaks to womens issues from an androcentric mindset.