Editor’s Note: This story includes mention of sexual harassment.
Indiana State Senator Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis) has finally faced consequences for his multiple sexual harassment allegations after being ousted as Senate Minority Leader on Dec. 18. Although Taylor’s release from his position of power is ultimately something to be celebrated, the process it took to reach this place is a reminder that just because Democrats claim to support women does not mean they do.
On Nov. 18, the same day IndyStar published accounts from three of Taylor’s accusers, most of Taylor’s colleagues voted to reelect him as their leader.
The three accusations published Nov. 18 span eight years and involve two instances of unwanted physical contact, and one example of a sustained romantic pursuit of an intern.
In response to those allegations, Taylor released a statement Nov. 22
"There have been times when I may have blurred the lines and behaved in a manner that potentially made my colleagues or those who witnessed my actions uncomfortable. While it was never my intent to cause harm, I acknowledge that I have fallen short, and for this, I apologize," the statement read.
That following Wednesday, however, Taylor distanced himself from that accountability, claiming “that statement was not from me,” and blaming it on the public relations firm he was using.
Less than a month after the initial accusations were published, IndyStar released another story Dec. 17 with accounts from three additional women who suffered from Taylor’s harassment, making a total of six women who had stepped forward. The new allegations included claims that Taylor touched women without their permission, including one woman who claimed he forcibly kissed her.
Several of Taylor’s accusers said prior to IndyStar publishing their stories, they had made members of the statehouse aware of Taylor’s treatment towards them. At least one of the accusers made a formal complaint with legislative leaders, and several of the other women say legislative leaders or top staffers knew about their concerns but took little action.
On Dec. 18, the day after the accounts of three more women were released, the Indiana State Democratic Caucus announced Taylor would be replaced by Senator Shelli Yoder of Bloomington as Minority Leader.
Although I am incredibly grateful we’ve progressed to a place in our society where women’s stories can be told and heard in order to make real change — such as Taylor being removed from his position of power — I cannot help but think about the other women who have been victims of a man’s abuse of power and were shamed rather than heard.
One of my most vivid memories from my childhood is the night of the 2016 election. Growing up in a moderately liberal household in Portland, Oregon, I had been surrounded by fear over the possibility of Donald Trump becoming president — much of which was fear for women in America. I witnessed my mom attend the national women’s rally in Washington D.C. and heard millions of women speaking out against Trump’s presidency.
Since then, I have always been aware of the various ways Republicans have acted and continue to act against women.
Trump’s misogyny has always been so blatant that even my 10-year-old self- did not struggle to understand the widespread concern with Trump and other Republicans with similar records being in office.
On the contrary, I had grown up to believe that because Democrats are often outspoken in their support for women’s rights and equality, that meant the Democratic Party is the protector of women in America, while the Republican Party is the biggest threat to us.
Learning about Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and the way esteemed democrats treated her throughout the scandal was the first time my eyes opened to the fact that both political parties have disrespected and harmed women in America — just in different ways. Lewinsky was just 21–years-old when she first started working as an intern at the White House in 1995 and was 22 when she began having a sexual relationship with Clinton —the 49-year-old, married President of the United States. The affair lasted 18 months, ending in 1997.
News of the scandal first broke on January 17, 1998, and was followed by months of Clinton, and his wife Hillary, denying the affair nationally, labelling it as purely right-wing propaganda.
Clinton finally admitted to the affair in a taped grand jury testimony on August 17, 1998, after the FBI tested a piece of Lewinsky’s clothing that had semen on it and confirmed it was a match to Clinton.
Learning about the affair itself was not shocking for me. What was shocking, however, was discovering the way Democrats let Lewinsky be treated throughout the scandal.
It is glaringly obvious when looking at the affair that Clinton took advantage of his position of power to have a relationship with a young woman who was trying to get her start in the political world — yet this was not the way the media framed it.
While Clinton got to resume his presidency and marriage following the affair, Lewinsky got labeled by the media and so-called feminists as “predatory,” and “ditzy.” Although Lewinsky was able to escape the public spotlight after the scandal, she often struggled to find a stable income due to potential employers worrying about her “history.”
Not to mention the biggest hypocrisy of it all: Hillary Clinton (who I considered one of my biggest feminist inspirations growing up), standing by her husband and letting a 22-year-old girl be brutally attacked, slut-shamed and bullied by the political world, even though Hillary’s husband was the man who held the power.
He was President of the United States, he was 27 years older than Lewinsky, he was the married one.
Yet, shocking, I know, the woman received the blame!
I cannot help but wonder how Lewinsky’s story may have differed had this situation taken place in 2025 rather than 1998. Perhaps she would have been given an opportunity to share her story like Taylor’s accusers were able to.
This is not all to say that Greg Taylor and Bill Clinton are the same people, or even that their situations are the same. The two different scandals serve as reminders both of how far we have come and how much work the Democratic Party still must do before being able to fully defend their claims of being the party for women.
Regardless of how much progress we have made for women in America, one thing has remained consistent: there is a problem with men in positions of political power using their status to form relationships with young women, and there is an even bigger problem with Democrats not acknowledging the role they have played in women being ignored.
Georgia Van Ness (she/her) is a freshman majoring in journalism.
