Trolls target Seattle's female councillors for quashing new arena hopes

Certain members of Seattle's city council have recently become the target of angry, hateful vitrol. They are the five members of council who voted against a motion to allow a new sports stadium to be built in the city.

They're also all women.

The vote dashed the hopes of basketball fans hoping to revive a NBA franchise in Seattle. Since then, the five female members of council have faced a tidal wave of misogynistic and sexist comments via social media and email.

Debora Juarez is one of those city council members. She spoke to As it Happens host Carol Off from Seattle. Here is part of their conversation.

"The general comments were pretty filthy, and misogynistic, and violent, and abusive.- Seattle City Council member Debora Juarez

Carol Off: Ms. Juarez, what kinds of comments have you faced since this vote?

Debora Juarez: Well, I should first add that not only did I receive these comments, but the other four council women received them as well. I don't want to make it sound like it was just me. However, the general comments were pretty filthy, and misogynistic, and violent, and abusive. And sexual. And then there were the ones that I got specifically — actually all of us got these — that obviously we're not intelligent, we're not strong, we're not smart; that we basically know nothing about sports — even though this vote had nothing to do with the sport — it had to do with the zoning issue. But then, in particular, we got specific comments made about our race. I got more than one but texts and emails that were pretty explicit — a couple [of] times some phone calls where I just hung up, some voice messages that I deleted...

CO: One in particular was quite egregious, from an attorney in Lynnwood, Washington. He said 'You have made this world a worse place by whoring yourselves out to the highest bidder. Each of you should rot in Hell for what you took from me yesterday.' What do you make of comments like that? 

Seattle is supposed to be this incredible progressive city...And so part of me was ashamed to have people like that out there. And all of them came from men. I did not have one comment from a woman.- Debora Juarez

DJ: Well, that was pretty bad ... what I take from that is, first of all — being a woman of colour — where I've gotten in my life, I've heard nastier things said, more about my race than my gender — though I have put it was a lot of sexism in my life. I'm not afraid. I wasn't hurt. I don't feel like a victim. I felt that, if anything, this just made me feel stronger. I voted my conscience. I did my homework. But on one side, I do feel it made me sad that this was my city. I'm an indigenous woman — an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation, though I was born and raised on the Puyallup Reservation. And so I kind of felt that personal kind of hurt. Like, these are my people. We all grew up out here next to you know the beautiful Salish Sea in Puget Sound and Lake Washington. And Seattle is supposed to be this incredible progressive city, with a $15 minimum wage. And looking at gender pay equity, and we're supposed to be so cutting edge, and looking at how we're doing with our homeless issue — while at the same time dealing with this incredible economic boom. And so part of me was ashamed to have people like that out there. And again, that was just a sampling. So just remember there are a lot — and all of them came from men. I did not have one comment from a woman. 

CO: But you say this is not about the bringing the NBA franchise back to the city. It was about the about the arena. So why did you vote against this motion?

"This was not about basketball. ...[W]hat I had to do is balance...the fiction of a pretend-third arena, with no NBA team in sight, versus [a] living breathing port of over 160 years of maritime history and success...That's what it came down to. It was a zoning issue. Plain and simple.- Deborah Juarez

DJ: This was not about basketball. It was about a tale of two streets. This was a zoning decision, in which we had to take into account the public interest, the public function, the land use impacts, and the public benefit. And for me, I believe — and I did my own homework on my own like everybody else, and we read everything there is to read — that we had to make a value judgment and we also had to make, if you will, 'cause I'm a lawyer, almost a legal judgment of looking at what was in front of us. And so what I had to do is balance what I call the fact and the fiction — the fiction of a pretend-third arena, with no NBA team in sight, versus [a] living breathing port of over 160 years of maritime history and success — with people in jobs. And traffic. That's what it came down to. It was a zoning issue. Plain and simple.

CO: What have the men said — obviously that they disagreed with how you voted, but what have they said about this outpouring of misogynyy that you and the other women have had since you opposed this arena?

DJ: Well, that's a good question. I have one council member put out a statement that that kind of language wouldn't be tolerable. But other than that, I haven't heard much. 

CO: And what do you think of that?

DJ: It hurts my feelings, because I come from the community, and they came from the private sector. And I always had this feeling of esprit de corps, that we're all working towards something — if one of us hurts we all hurt. I would have acted differently if that had happened to my four male counterparts. I would have been in their office. I would not have put up with it. I would have said something. I would have put out a statement immediately. I would have consulted with the people that I felt were abused. I don't know what to make of it, because I don't really know what's in their mind and heart. 

CO: Has the mayor responded?

DJ: Oh, absolutely. The mayor responded. [Developer] Chris Hansen responded. The Port of Seattle responded. And you know what was really wonderful? Now the letters are three-to-one saying 'you did the right thing, Council Member Juarez', which has been phenomenal. But the other thing that really warmed my heart and made me feel good is Native-American people — including my own tribe, the Blackfeet Nation, and tribes in Washington State and beyond — I can count at least 10 tribal leaders, men and women, that called me and said, "Are you OK?" And these people don't even live in Seattle, even though this is their traditional land. This is their land. That was the kind of caring that came around me immediately. It was just, pick up the folks — they've known me, helped raise me, know what kind of woman I am, know what kind of leader I am — and just said, "Are you OK? Is there anything I can do?" And a couple tribal leaders were teasing me, saying, "Do we need to send some war canoes down there?" And I said, "This Plains Blackfeet woman can handle it. I got it. But thank you."

For more on this story, listen to the full interview.