To avoid hurting their feelings, Washington state Democrats change how they refer to sex offenders

OLYMPIA, WA- They don’t call it the “left coast” for nothing. From California to Washington, the west coast of the United States is occupied by some of the most radical leftist loons you can imagine. Look no further than a proposed bill in Washington State for proof. 

KTTH’s Jason Rantz reported that a new bill is making its way through the Washington legislature that would mandate “person-first” language to address how sex offenders are labeled. The intent is to “destigmatize” sex offenders–including violent ones–by watering down how they are referred to. 

The bill, HB-2177, also changes the name of the Sex Offender Policy Board to the Sex Offense Policy Board. That name change serves to remove the focus from the “offender” to the “offense,” a subtle but substantial change in how sexual deviants are referred to. 

Even more egregious, HB-2177 would also add a convicted sex offender to the Sex Offender Policy Board, with Democrats claiming adding convicted felons’ “lived experiences” are “invaluable.” To make matters even worse, membership on the board isn’t restricted to level one sex offenders–the least serious among them, who are deemed unlikely to re-offend. 

Instead, the bill would allow the most dangerous sex offenders–level three–to join the board. They would sit on the board alongside another newly appointed board member–a victim of sex crimes. 

The board was initially intended to help keep the community safe. Now, right out of the far-left progressive Democrat playbook, it seems the board will be more concerned about advocating for sex offenders. 

Rantz said the bill is being pushed by a state representative who also happens to be a three-time felon, Rep. Tarra Simmons. Simmons served three felony convictions for possession of controlled substances and retail theft in 2011. She led the charge to have sexual deviants serve on the Sex Offense Policy Board. 

“I think that we all do better when we have a diverse legislature. That’s why I’m here,” Simmons said at a House Community Safety, Justice, & Reentry hearing on the bill. “And I’m proud to be here. And while some people may have a stigma for people who have committed a sex offense, I think they have invaluable information to share that can really guide this board.” 

WJAR wrote that the bill would increase its membership from 13 to 17, and aside from adding a sex offender victim and an actual sex offender, it would also include a member of a sex offender advocacy group and a member of a Native American tribe. It was not explained what a Native American tribe member would bring to the table specifically. 

Whitney Hunt, a staffer for the board, spoke about the “person-first language” in the bill. 

“This bill incorporates recommendations the board has previously indicated its support for regarding the use of person-first language,” Hunt said. “This change aligns with best practices and research and encompasses all the individuals involved and impacted by the sex offense management system, including victims.” 

Board chair Brad Meryhew said the board seeks to add “diverse” voices to its deliberations. 

“One of the things that we try very hard to do on the board is to facilitate as many diverse voices as we can at the table,” he said. “The first thing that we talk about and we always focus on in our discussion is community safety, the victim’s perspective, which is why people who have committed these offenses look for redemption and look for a better world for themselves and for others.” 

When asked about adding an actual felony sex offender to the board, Alex Mayo, a member of a local sex offender advocacy group, said adding such a person would add “a much-needed perspective” to the board’s deliberations.” 

“For far too long, our public policy has treated people who have offended sexually as though they will never be able to control their actions, as though they are moments away from reoffending,” Mayo said. “This simply is not true.” 

Mayo ignores a Bureau of Justice Statistics report that showed within nine years of their release, “Rape and sexual assault offenders were less likely than other released prisoners to be arrested, but they were more likely than other released prisoners to be arrested for rape or sexual assault.” 

Moreover, that same report found that: “Released sex offenders accounted for 5% of releases in 2005 and 16% of arrests for rape or sexual assault during the 9-year follow-up period.” 

The proposed Washington bill, however, was criticized by James McMahan of the Washinton Associations of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, which opposes the bill. 

“We think that the value and the original vision of the policy board still is good, that’s what we’d like it to do,” McMahan said. “We don’t support expansion; we don’t support training and conferences because it loses the intimate, productive, and dispassionate group of experts that the legislature was seeking when they created it in the first place.” 

Rep. Dan Griffey, a Republican, opposes the bill, saying he was curious why the board would “advocate” for a sex offender. He also noted a victim of a sex offender would likely not feel comfortable serving on the board with one. 

The bill isn’t without a humorous angle, however. In a bit of word salad that would make Kamala Harris proud, sex offenders on the board would be known as a “representative with lived experience with incarceration for a sex offense.” By the time you get to the sex offense part, you’ve pretty much forgotten what the board is there for. 

Rantz noted that “person-first language” has traditionally been used to describe disabled people so as not to stigmatize them and define them by their disability. The National Institutes of Health says it is a more “respectful” way to define people with disabilities. The left has played word salad with several terms, referring to criminals as “justice-involved persons,” homeless people as “unhoused,” pedophiles are now “minor-attracted persons, and now, for a drug addict, the preferred progressive term is a “person who is in recovery from a substance abuse disorder.” 

Rantz said a piece in Psychology Today explains the use of first-person language for sex offenders, as described by Dr. Elizabeth Letourneau. 

She says such “person-first language” makes it so sex offenders aren’t identified “by a single attribute,” nor should the be labeled “based on the worst thing they’ve ever done.” She said person-first language allows someone to “communicate more clearly and respectfully” without ignoring the underlying crimes. 

The person-first language is part of a campaign by leftist Democrats to destigmatize sex offenders. Worse yet, they are also trying to release dangerous pedophiles into the community, Rantz warned. 

IN 2021, Democrats passed a bill that would more easily distribute conditionally released sexually violent predators across Washington State. The bill also encourages predators to pursue Less Restrictive Alternative (LRA) means of incarceration, which are outpatient programs in a community setting. 

The bill's primary sponsor, Democrat State Sen. Christine Rolfes, said it is intended to bring “people who are potentially dangerous but not necessarily dangerous back into communities where they can live safely and with their constitutional liberties protected.” [emphasis added] Sex offenders at the McNeil Island facility are now referred to as “residents” instead of inmates. 

So insane are Washington Democrats that last year, they were trying to put a child rapist in an unsecured house near an area where young children congregate in the city of Tenino. Only after they were found out and pressure was brought to bear did the state back down, Rantz said.  

The Sex Offender Policy Board has recommended that the state end a rule prohibiting LRAs within 500 feet of a childcare facility. The board said, “There is no particular increase in risk associated with proximity to the location where individuals who have committed sexual offenses are housed.”