Susanna Gibson, who is running for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates for Richmond, reportedly performed sex acts with her husband on Chaturbate, according to the Washington Post.
“Susanna Gibson, a nurse practitioner and mother of two young children running in a highly competitive suburban Richmond district, streamed sex acts on Chaturbate, a platform that says it takes its name from ‘the act of masturbating while chatting online,’ reported the Post.
The tip was given to the newspaper by a Republican operative whom the paper declined to name.
Apparently, Gibson solicits tips in the videos, which the Post says they viewed, and notes that is an “apparent violation of Chaturbate’s terms and conditions, which say: ‘Requesting or demanding specific acts for tips may result in a ban from the Platform for all parties involved.’”
“Democracy dies in the darkness of not holding politicians to account for their compliance with Chaturbates terms of service,” commented X user @Philip_DT wryly, echoing a lot of comments by users who questioned the idea that the revelation was much of a story.
“Genuine question, who gives a fuck if someone did legal, consensual sex acts online[?]” asked @FootballReprt.
“Seems like you should include WITH HER HUSBAND in the headline,” commented @rebelledeb.
According to a written statement provided to the Post, Gibson wrote that “my political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up.”
A lawyer for Gibson claimed to the Post that spreading the videos around violates Virginia’s revenge porn law.
While the Post declined to name her, other outlets went further, finding Gibson’s screen name and publishing it.
The Daily Wire, a right-wing outlet, chose to include Gibson’s user name in their article about Gibson’s past.
Most everybody on X was completely accepting of the idea, directing their ire at whoever may have leaked it.
“As long as she didn’t abuse her office or purposely hurt anyone else, who cares?” asked @jgchacin9.
“Legal and Consensual? So?” asked @sophiesmother95.
Since the news, some Democrats have rallied around Gibson, calling on voters to donate and support her after the news broke.
Gibson eventually lost her race by a very small margin, but Virginia Democrats nevertheless managed to take both houses in Richmond.
