Compare Katie Hill's scathing resignation speech to Brett Kavanaugh's hearing and you get the real truth

'It might feel like they won in the short term, but they can't in the long term. We can't let them'

On Thursday, Katie Hill delivered her final speech as a congresswoman. Or, to put it more honestly: on Thursday, Katie Hill, a woman who for days had been publicly shamed for her personal life and sexuality, stood in front of Congress and delivered a final, defiant address before standing down, denouncing the “double standard” that has led to her getting slut-shamed out of political office.

In case you need a recap of the facts, here they are: last week, nude photos of Hill were made public. Around the same time, reports emerged saying she’d had an allegedly inappropriate relationship with staffer (Hill has admitted to having a relationship with a female staffer but denied an alleged affair with a male congressional staff member, which would be against House rules).

Almost all of Hill’s fellow Democrats were less than supportive. Kamala Harris was the only presidential candidate to come out and say that Hill had been unjustly victimized — despite the fact that in California, where Hill resides, has some of the strictest revenge porn laws in the country, meaning she will very likely be seen in the eyes of the law as the victim of a crime. Even Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly expressed compassion for Hill before adding: “It goes to show you, we should say to young candidates, and to kids in kindergarten really, be careful when transmitting photos.” I don’t know, how about people just be careful not to leak other people’s nudes in order to harm them and their reputation? How about media outlets (a right-wing blog that published Hill’s photos prides itself on its “actual, real journalism”) refrain from publishing leaked nudes altogether?

Crazily enough, even Republican Matt Gaetz publicly castigated Democrats for not standing beside their colleague.

It’s all the more impressive that Hill decided, in this context, to stand in front of Congress one last time and make her voice heard. She chose to apologize several times, “to every young person who saw themselves and their dreams reflected in me”, “to those who felt like I gave them hope in one of the darkest times in our nation’s history”, “to the thousands of people who spent hours knocking doors in the hot summer sun, who made countless phone calls”, and “to every little girl who looked up to me”.

Public apologies like this one remain a rare breed. Remember when Brett Kavanaugh apologised for how allegations of rape against him distracted from the solemnity of the Supreme Court? Yeah, me neither.

Hill continued: “I am leaving now because of a double standard. I am leaving because I no longer want to be used as a bargaining chip. I am leaving because I didn’t want to be peddled by papers and blogs and websites, used by shameless operatives for the dirtiest gutter politics that I’ve ever seen, and the right-wing media to drive clicks and expand their audience by distributing intimate photos of me taken without my knowledge, let alone my consent, for the sexual entertainment of millions.”

She then called out the “misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures” and “capitalised on my sexuality”.

As a woman who lives in the US and gritted her teeth as Kavanaugh was granted a Supreme Court seat for apparently being a good boy who went to Yale Law School, enjoyed beer, got married and had kids (being a "family man" is still considered one of the most powerful tokens of someone’s morality in America, whereas a woman having kids is at best fulfilling her biological purpose, at worst making herself unemployable); as one of the thousands of people who was forced to watch as a presidential candidate was caught on tape bragging about sexual assault was elected anyway; as someone who was a child during the Bill Clinton impeachment inquiry and only realised years later that the narrative I’d been fed was profoundly unfair (sure, let’s all blame the junior White House staffer for her affair with the decades-older actual president of the United States) – I am so glad Hill spoke out.

Hill didn’t lose her Congressional seat because of an alleged improper relationship. Women aren't taught to act with the same relentless righteousness as an outraged Brett Kavanaugh having to defend himself against rape accusations. Women are taught to sit down and be quiet when the narrative becomes "too much" about them.

“Yes, I’m stepping down, but I refuse to let this experience scare off other women who dare to take risks, who dare to step into this light, who dare to be powerful,” Hill said on Thursday. “It might feel like they won in the short term, but they can’t in the long term. We cannot let them.”

Sure, it’s disheartening to see a talented young female politician step down amid scandal, but I don’t think it should be on Hill to weather such a toxic storm. Her farewell speech shows that she’s well aware of the symbolic implications of her departure. Despite the “thousands of vile, threatening emails, calls and texts” that she said made her fear for her life and those of her loved ones, she took time to urge other women to continue running for office and establishing themselves as leaders. Where so many politicians would have dedicated their entire speech to their own righteousness, Hill took time to think of others and offer them a rallying cry.

For now, that will have to be good enough.