Orla Fee (she/her)
@orlafee1
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Inclusive leader, trying to make a positive contribution. Human rights are meaningless if we only stand up for our own. Views mine, no one else’s.
Joined January 2017
I am very uncomfortable with a billionaire author getting privileged access to a party that may shortly be in power, to discuss the rights of a minority group she doesn’t belong to, who have experienced a massive increase in hate crime, and who she believes have too many rights.
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Oh dear. I've rather outed myself as racist and misogynistic. Wishing violence on the Duchess of Sussex has gone down badly with a great many of my influential friends as well as my own daughter. I'm horrified to have caused myself so much hurt and I shall be more careful etc.
Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it. In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people. I’m horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future.
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"Don't be surprised If I demur, for, be advised My passport's green. No glass of ours was ever raised To toast the Queen." — Seamus Heaney, "Field Day Pamphlet no.2" (1983) #irishtwitter.
Public asked to swear allegiance to King Charles during the Coronation
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I’ve been visiting family for three days and already we’ve crossed @BorderIrish 7 times. All we’ve done is feed the ducks, go out for lunch and visit the playground.
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When registering to vote, the website seems perfectly capable of accepting NI citizens can be Irish, British and both. This is a settled issue which should not be in question. @EmmandJDeSouza #weareirishtoo
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@deniseshrivell @stephendziedzic This exactly. My preschool child got a pretend phone in the early months of pandemic after watching me work from home. It was illuminating.
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@shockproofbeats At my first ever job interview the interviewer told me some of the other candidates were from Oxbridge colleges and asked me why I thought someone from Queen’s University Belfast could compete with them.
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Is this correct? I've been an Irish citizen all my life, grew up 2m from the border in NI, dual citizenship rts in the GFA. The govt now says I'm British, can only be Irish if I renounce Britishness, but then I won't be able to vote on a referendum about the border #weareIrishtoo.
Irish citizens will be unable to vote in UK referendums including a border poll. As a workaround to the @ukhomeoffice assertion that we're all British the dept suggests NI born Irish citizens renounce British citizenship. As a result they will be unable to vote #WeAreIrishtoo
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@GrantSana Frustrating that the presenter let him speak over herself as well as the artist without setting boundaries for a respectful conversation.
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Enoch Burke defied a court order to stay away from a school, instead arriving at the school every day. If someone barred from my child’s school, or yours, wouldn’t stay away, I would be very concerned. Please report this properly as.a safeguarding issue.
📸 Watch: Christian teacher who refused to use trans pupil’s preferred pronouns jailed for third time
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When Edna O’Brien’s writing had fallen out of fashion (she was a woman and a feminist when Ireland really didn’t tolerate writers being either) Seamus Heaney organised a meeting with Faber and advocated for them to take her on. The rest is stellar literary history.
“In our deepest moments we say the most inadequate things. Darkness is drawn to light, but light does not know it; light must absorb the darkness and therefore meet its own extinguishment. When anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees.”. Edna O’Brien RIP.
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@EveOFarrell1 @fdelond @josephamadigan I’ve worked as an editor and publisher on @fdelond work and can vouch she’s an expert! Google would have confirmed that for you.
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This is not feminism to me, it’s intimidation and exclusion.
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The vigil may or may not go ahead, but I live by Clapham Common and tomorrow evening I will go for a walk there and lay flowers for #saraheverard #ReclaimTheseStreets.
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8th wedding anniversary today. Would have loved to see this photo in the crystal ball 8 years ago and feeling very lucky to be together in lockdown.
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It was great to meet Rohingya girls in Cox’s Bazar in the middle of their literacy class and hear how excited they are to learn to read and write. Their potential and hope for the future is lovely to see. @ActionAidUK @AABangladesh @EdTait @AlimGeo @Ibrahim_Mollik
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Delighted to see this tweet about Ghana having the highest number of women owned businesses in the world, while sitting in the @ActionAidGhana office in Accra hearing about the fantastic work they do to contribute to this. @GirishMenonAAUK @EdTait @MCaselyHayford @ActionAidUK
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I'm very lucky to work for a great organisation @ActionAidUK with wonderful supporters like @JamesPurefoy who give their time to promote the rights of women and girls. Please vote for the film we made together to raise awareness of gender inequality.
We have some exciting news to share – our Touchline Tactics film featuring @JamesPurefoy, has been shortlisted as a #finalist in the @CharityFilm_ Awards 2019 😊! Help us win 🏆 and vote for the film now. Let's raise awareness about gender inequality:
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Today we had trans awareness training @ActionAidUK so we can continue creating together the equal, diverse and inclusive workplace we want for all our colleagues present and future. Thanks to @Genderintell.
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@mikegalsworthy Woke up one morning by Alexa saying: ‘This is a reminder; Molly is having ice cream for breakfast.’ Set by 4-yr-old Molly so we wouldn’t forget.
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Christmas Day was the best day of this year. The first Xmas in 20 years that hasn’t started with a long journey and our first ever just the three of us at home. We drank champagne, watched movies and ate Brussels sprouts the way they’re meant to be, with anchovies.
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Has anyone used the headline Cummings and Goings yet?. .
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“[The] NHS – is cosmopolitan and global. There are 200 different nationalities represented in its ranks by 150,000 doctors, nurses and ancillary staff. One consolation in this disaster is the realisation that Britain is exceptionally lucky to have them.”
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Friday was Vote, Vaccine, Vacation!And a classic Wedding Anniversary photo courtesy of 5-yr old (later attempts were more successful)
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Annual wedding anniversary portrait by 7-yr-old. Be sure to get the bluebells in I said, and she followed the brief impeccably.
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“Instead of looking for a knight, look for a sword and fight for global girls’ rights” Jesse, @PlanUK Youth Advocate, speaking at the @HouseofCommons. #GirlsRightsAreGlobal.
Girls everywhere have the right to learn, lead, decide&thrive. Yet in the UK+around the🌏 they are denied access to their rights. That's why we're @HouseofCommons to discuss the 🇬🇧 Gov.’s role in promoting girls’ rights+gender equality here+abroad with MPs #GirlsRightsAreGlobal
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.@BorisJohnson ⛔ Don’t scrap the Department for International Development. Doing so would be turning our backs on the world’s most vulnerable. #SaveAid #UKAid.
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Keep hearing people on the radio say it's time to move on from talking about DC to real issues like homelessness, low incomes etc. I would LOVE to hear someone point out how they're connected. Privilege and inequality are the reasons those problems exist in the 1st place.
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One very positive thing to report from this situation is that virtual Friday works drinks are better than real ones because you don’t have to commute home afterwards and workmates’ partners and families joining or popping in and out is lovely.
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Looking forward to tomorrow's @CharityFilm_ awards ceremony and keeping fingers crossed for 'One Girl's Journey' by @ActionAidUK
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When your husband gets to go to an awards ceremony during the day while you're working so you hide his socks. @BPGAwards #BPGAwards @jagasiam
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Flashback to January 2017: Off to the Women's March with my little activist
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It’s Xmas with family and I both can’t cope and am coping. Updates later.
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I'm officially taking baking off the home schooling curriculum today. We've made bread, chocolate brownies and pizza from scratch. When I say "we": 4-yr-old stirs/kneads once and then says "Call me when it's ready". So I'm giving myself an A+ and bringing term to an end.
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My workmates @ActionAidUK are all doing things we would have thought impractical/impossible a few weeks ago and that is amazing to watch. The Teams meetings are bringing us closer together and our days start with video messages from our trustees. Counting #lockdown blessings.
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@Kim_Mawhinney I went to a conference recently where they asked for only comments, no questions ('we don't have time for the panel to answer, just give us your own thoughts on this') and EVERY person asked a question.
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#womenbywomen exhibition at the oxo gallery @OXO Great turnout to hear how @ActionAidUK are shaping the conversation about avoiding stereotypes in NGO photography
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We’ve just had a delightful visit to the @AABangladesh Happy Home in Dhaka. The girls’ ambitions include being a pathologist, a journalist, a political scientist and a wedding planner! (The littlest ones just wanted us to sing.😀) @EdTait @ActionAidUK
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Mummers were such a big part of my childhood, visiting my primary school often, always at festivals and celebrations— haven’t heard of them once since leaving Ireland but assume they still exist in UK and all across Europe….
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The opening paragraph of Cold Comfort Farm hasn’t been as successful at taking my mind off things as I hoped when I picked it off the shelf in the wee hours.
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Thank you to everyone who came to our #WomenbyWomen exhibition celebrating the extraordinary lives lived by women everywhere. @ActionAidUK #InternationalWomensDay. Snapshot sisterhood: women train the lens on women – in pictures | The Guardian
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Lunch on a restored steam train through the Scottish Highlands. Waiter: “When should I bring sir’s whisky?” Husband: “The whisky’s for my wife.” Me: “I’ll have it now.”
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So the UK government are currently in court trying to strip everyone born in NI of the right to dual citizenship and because of Brexit noise no one is noticing.
Just in from the Immigration Minister on the birthright provisions of the Good Friday Agreement. The UK Government's position is that identity under the agreement is a separate concept from citizenship. Intention of the Govt to move away from this provision couldn't be clearer
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3-yr-old went trick or treating with her best friend. His bucket is the orange one. I looked at their respective hauls and just thought: #genderpaygap
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The only way I can see these circumstances differ from everyone else's are having a spare cottage and your own forest.
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This is probably my last visit home before 31 Oct and I’m really aware of criss-crossing the border between NI and ROI. I thought we crossed 3 times yesterday but then was reminded we overtook a tractor where the border runs down the middle of the road, so that makes 5 times.
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@KateHoeyMP @rcgp @JuliaHB1 It shows they listen to their members a darn sight better than you listen to your constituents.
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@daraobriain Lots of Irish women who live in another country fear going home to have children or even to visit while pregnant, so it would be great if the Irish men felt they could speak out and support us, no matter where they live.
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‘Watching in disbelief and frustration’: family who have crisscrossed the Irish border about a dozen times this week already and will need to keep doing so come March @BorderIrish #brexit.
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Join @ActionAidUK and campaigners around the world to demand justice for survivors of gender-based violence. Together we can bring about urgent change and make the world a safer, fairer, more equal place for women and girls.
All too often, there's no justice for women and girls affected by violence. Many fear the repercussions of saying #MeToo - this has to change. Will you join us, and amazing campaigners around the world, to demand justice for survivors?
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This morning’s gem: ‘Mummy these are boys’ shoes.’ Pause. ‘They’re my shoes.’ Slightly puzzled tone: ‘I like my shoes.’ Journeys in feminist thought, aged 2.
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Sunday morning Oddbox delivery makes me very happy. The 3-yr-old thinks the elves leave the box under the hedge overnight, there’s almost no plastic, no supermarket trips and we’ve never eaten this healthily before @OddboxLDN
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Lockdown is about taking personal responsibility. I’ll be staying at home whatever the ‘advice’ says later. I have that choice and many others do not, so out of respect for them just let’s stay home.
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Important we remember where our attention should be . Domestic violence kills 15 times as many as terrorism in Britain
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Civil servant who suggested the name shuffles uncomfortably. ‘Is it? Anagram you say. Well I never.’ #YellowHammer #OrwellMayhem.
Listener to @PatKennyNT just pointed out that #Yellowhammer is an anagram for Orwell Mayhem. Sounds about right. #brexit #brexitshambles.
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Remote working was good today thanks to great colleagues, & I'm getting more fresh air and exercise under 'lockdown' than before. When we emerge from this I want to spend less time in underground carriages, meeting rooms & traffic jams, and more walking under the cherry blossom.
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Poverty can not be reduced without transforming power relations and addressing gender inequality for African women: Jessica Horn @stillSHErises #bondconf.
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Love of books sorely tested by World Book Day being observed by my 3-yr-old’s nursery. Betty O’Barley needed at most a few strands of straw to complete her costume but I have accidentally had enough hay to feed a horse for a week delivered to our flat.
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Where are the women?!!!! Would dispute the value of discussions on Brexit, NI, immigration and the economy from which half the population are excluded.
Productive meetings this afternoon @uscapitol for discussions on #Brexit, Northern Ireland, immigration & economic issues #StPatricksDay
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We missed the second England goal because as my non-football-watching, theatre-loving husband put it, it happened right after 'the interval'.
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I went to the sandwich shop beside the office today for the first time in exactly 2 years. I ordered a tuna sandwich and they asked me if I wanted to add my usual extra topping of red chilli pepper. Was gobsmacked they remembered! #TheGrubberieOnBowlingGreenLane #community.
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@helenlewis No one is saying it isn’t true. But we have choices— accept it for ever or change it. Changing it means pointing out it needs to change and using different language.
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@IrelandEmbUSA @uscapitol @IrelandAtlanta @IrelandinNY @IrelandSanFran @IrelandChicago @IrelandBoston @IrelandCGAustin @merrionstreet @EUAmbUS Just pointing out on behalf of everyone asking ‘Where are the women?’, the question is not rhetorical. An official answer would be welcome please.
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Got a video call from 4-year-old this morning to say Happy Mothers Day. Another week apart needed but then hope to be back together #mothersday2020 #Quarantine.
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Labour MP Kate Hoey says she's "quite relaxed" re vote against her. Those were also her exact words about Brexit when I contacted her as my MP to express worry about what it would mean for my family on the Irish border. Retirement's quite relaxing too Kate.
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Have singlehandedly finished off the Twiglets and it’s not yet Xmas Eve, very much setting the tone for the Xmas I hope to have.
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Normally don’t have the news on in the car with the 3-yr-old but today we’re listening to PM while in Scotland and she is delightedly shouting ‘constitutional outrage’, tinpot dictator’ and ‘no-deal Brexit’. Trying to look on the bright side and focus on all the new vocabulary!.
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Taking part in the #GlobalClimateStrike with friends from @ActionAidUK and @ActionAid #ClimateStrike #ClimateJusticeNow
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A moment of shared joy is incredible. Can anyone remember the last one, because I'm struggling to think of the last time? Most recent answer to the question here was 1997. .
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All 3 of Molly's grandparents (aged 85, 90 and 90) now have their first vaccinations, so that's something.
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Fantastic night of comedy: huge thanks to Jo Brand, @lepaciousbose @thatjanravens @shaziamirza1 @josierones @kelly_convey @heiressjacinta being funny for @ActionAidUK at #StandUpWithWomen with @LatitudeFest.
Fab evening in the company of some fabulously funny women, including Jo Brand, @lepaciousbose @thatjanravens @shaziamirza1 @josierones @kelly_convey @heiressjacinta #StandUpWithWomen @ActionAidUK
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#PeoplesVoteMarch or ‘Marching and Ice cream’ as yesterday’s event was called in our house to interest a key demographic in taking part.
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In 2019 I ended up spending an inordinate amount of energy on things not related to making the world better for others, or for myself, or achieving equality, or creating art or beauty, or nurturing my family. In 2020 all my energy will go on these things. Promise to self.
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That just missed my foot. There’s a reason I avoid loading the dishwasher (and every other piece of housework that I somehow manage to make dangerous).
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In the last 24 hrs (as well as being afraid like everyone else), online I've had a team meeting, a lovely St Patrick's Day catch-up with old friends, and a writing group session (with wine). I think the next few months will teach us how to use the internet properly.
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Reflecting on our fantastic visit to Ghana with @ActionAidGhana colleagues and looking forward to continuing our conversations and deepening our friendships after we are back home at @ActionAidUK
Concluding the week-long visit by our colleagues from @ActionAidUK with an interactive discussion with our staff in Accra on collaborating to #endpoverty and fighting for #WomenEmpowerment
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Have my annual performance review with @GirishMenonAAUK in an hour and am wondering whether starting a meeting by complimenting your line manager on his eyelashes is the thing to do or not. Currently undecided.
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Sending love to trans and non binary people today as always. That is the only message x.
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Catching up with colleagues from @ActionAidBangladesh and meeting the women and girls they work with.@ActionAidUK @EdTait
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I remember being held at a checkpoint for hours because my mum refused to tell a soldier where we started our journey. The checkpoint was between our gate posts. It was her 4th short journey that day including school run and she was asked for ID every single time.#bordermemories.
I remember my mum's suitcase being emptied onto the pavement during border 'inspections' and her begging my dad not to have a go as the soldiers held up her underwear for the others to laugh at. Ahh, memories. .
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@CaitrionaMullan @danobrien20 @businessposthq 'No living memory of national trauma'!! (*breathes slowly into paper bag, making sure bag doesn't burst because still can't deal with loud noises).
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We’ve been set an exercise from #AcevoConf19. At our next 1:1 we’re to ask only questions and offer no opinions. I think I can do that. (The next challenge is to make no decisions for three months. Might not sign up for that one yet.).
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I am equal parts ‘love the team, their values, this shared experience’ and ‘this country should be banned from all future events until the fans behave better’.
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@RonanMullen @SimonHarrisTD All unwanted sex is rape. Mind-boggling for an elected representative to claim there are occasions when it might not be.
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