T.I. could be leading to some changes in the law. According to a report from Page Six, New York lawmakers want to ban “virginity check-ups” after the infamous comments made by the rapper on the “Ladies Like Us” podcast about having his daughter’s hymen checked to make sure she is still a virgin.
State Senator Roxanne Persaud and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages are leading the charge.
“These examinations are not only a violation of women’s and girls’ human rights, but in cases of rape, can cause additional pain and mimic the original act of sexual violence, leading to re-experience, re-traumatization and re-victimization,” the lawmakers said. “It’s misogynistic, it’s appalling.
“I was horrified to see this was happening. If a celebrity can impose his power to ensure his 18-year-old daughter gets checked, imagine what can be done in households across New York state?”
The Senators would ban the check-ups with their legislation.
T.I. sparked outrage after his comments where he said, “This is the thing. Deyjah’s 18, just graduated high school now and she’s attending her first year of college, figuring it out for herself. And yes, not only have we had the conversation, we have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen.”
“So it’s this one time we go, I think this might have been after her 16th birthday. This is what we do. Right after the birthday we celebrate,” he said. “Usually like the day after the party she’s enjoying her gifts. I put a sticky note on the door: ‘Gyno. Tomorrow. 9:30.’ So we’ll go and sit down and the doctor will come and talk and the doctor’s maintaining a high level of professionalism. He’s like, ‘You know sir, I have to, in order to share information’ — I’m like, ‘Deyjah they want you to sign this so we can share information. Is there anything you would not want me to know? See doc? No problem.’ And so then they come and say, ‘Well I just want you to know that there are other ways besides sex that the hymen can be broken like bike riding, athletics, horseback riding and just other forms of athletic physical activity.’ So I say, ‘Look doc, she don’t ride no horses, she don’t ride no bike, she don’t play no sports. Just check the hymen please and give me back my results expeditiously.'”
The podcast has since been deleted.