The PSL just released two documents related to the recent Marissa Sanchez post detailing her experiences at the national level of the PSL. I'm going to be posting both of them as well as their full text for archival purposes.
I should note a couple things before I link these things:
- At multiple points, the report mentions that Marissa was reportedly fine and thankful during and after the immediate events of this incident and it's cover up. This is shown to be an example of proof that she was fine at the time, and leads into building the case that this is a factional decision. However, I am not convinced that this means she is cynically using this to split the party for her own ends. Betrayal Blindness is a collection of responses and symptoms broadly related to a person being betrayed by someone whom they rely on for financial, personal, romantic, or political needs. In order to come to terms with my experience of the same exact tendencies on a local level I read the book "Betrayal Blindness" by Jennifer Freyd, and I implore everyone to read it as well.
- Repeatedly they claim this is the result of a factional dispute. That might even be true in some ways, perhaps Marissa saw that there was a different way to organize going forward and it gave her the ability to be able to accept the abuse she faced. This, however, doesn't have to only come from a sense of macabre cynicism, being able to finally use her trauma as a loaded gun to split the party for her own selfish ends as described in the article. For myself, when I stepped away from the party for my Leave of Absence, I was able to begin to be engaged in mass organizing work that I wasn't in prior, that I didn't have the time for. This has given me the courage to be able to stand up and say that I don't think is acceptable at all.
- I am not in a faction, have not been in communication with anyone in a faction, and my disgust is only colored by my own similar experiences and emotional waves being thrown right back in my face as someone who's faced the exact same tactics myself. I'm genuinely just a trans woman by myself, I have some friends and comrades, but our local branch is still up in the air
The party routinely expects things like this to be leaked, so they prepare for the possibility. Given they already know we're going to do this, I'm just going to share the documents here for you and others here, and I leave it up to you and your comrades to decide how you feel about the party and it's current leadership. For me, the emphasis on how this fits into factional warfare is not only not convincing, but honestly disgusting.
Comprehensive Report from the Central Committee in Response to Marissa Sanchez’s Letter
NDC Statement (Sept. 2026), the password is ndcstatement
c\main so main
For my part, I know vaguely that Chris either left or was suspended from the DFW Branch last year over matters related to sexual misconduct. I was never told the full story, but I know those tendencies to be true.
Further, I think the issue is not completely that it occurred in the first place. Organizations should and need to plan for the inevitability that sexual harassment, assault, andremoved will occur, and it's not a complete condemnation of an organization if a member, even a founding member, was found to have done this. However it's condemning if the organization did not respond adequately, and after the fact still insists on belittling the person who was abused, I do not feel it's safe. I also can't say this enough, I did experience many of the same tendencies from my national liaison which is part of what makes this so convincing for me.
I'm not trying to discount your experiences! I think raising the standards is the only way to ensure that these damaging tendencies are eliminated. I also get why you feel the way you do. I'm not trying to be combative, I'm just a really analytical person so sometimes I can come across a little abrasive.
Maybe the party cannot be fixed, but I'm still trying to determine if that is the case or not.