Comments on: Does Brewster’s age matter?

By: Kevin Jennings’ Exit Taunt To Conservative Critics: “You completely failed.” « Nice Deb

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 06:44:09 +0000

[...] As Warren Throckmorton observed in 2009: While Media Matters has focused on the exact age of the boy, the group has not addressed the discrepancies in past accounts. They accuse FOX of wildly inaccurate reporting but fail to note that the reporting was based on Jennings own statements. [...]

By: Lynn

Lynn — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:54:21 +0000

If this was a 15 or 16 year old heterosexual having sex with an adult, heaven and earth would have been moved to find and arrest the adult. Jennings would have been labeled an enabler and fired by now. I see no difference in the gender or the sexual leanings of either of them. It’s just wrong. PERIOD

By: Debbie Thurman

Debbie Thurman — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:20:55 +0000

CNN now has this story on "Brewster" speaking out. And he (if he is real) is denying he even had sex with the "man" he met at the Boston bus station. So who is Kevin Jennings talking about in his various anecdotes over the years? Did he make the whole thing up? Is his Brewster a composite? The plot thickens. I'm not sure it is really helping Jennings.

By: Debbie Thurman

Debbie Thurman — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:13:23 +0000

I think you meant this link, a.mcewen.

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:00:20 +0000

Well, in any event, the entire situation was legally shaky. It seems to me that Jennings may have been more intimidated by the exposure of homosexuality (even though he was out to some) than anything else. This is not an excuse for camplacency and rather just an observation. Teachers and counselors (especially young vulnerable counselors because 24 is barely experienced) need specific guidance and traning on how to report, regard, what actions to take, etc.. when such a situation becomes known.

By: hazemyth

hazemyth — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:20:10 +0000

It seems likely that Jennings embellished his anecdote (and inconsistently at that). Hardly rare. Of course, that’s why all anecdotal evidence should be taken with a grain of salt. Necessarily, that embellishment undermines the value of the anecdote as evidence of his point. Yet, I think there’s a mistake in treating such statements too literally.

By: Warren

Warren — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:07:23 +0000

The statement from Brewster is not consistent with Jennings telling of the story but a. mcewen, you are correct he defends Jennings. I wonder what he thinks of Jennings statement that he should have called in medical and legal consultation.

Some have stretched this situation into what might be embarrassing for them. However, in 2004, Jennings implied through his lawyer that he did not know the boy was sexually active. Now, the issue is when did the activity take place that would lead Jennings to say, “I hope you knew to use a condom.”

By: a. mcewen

a. mcewen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:57:16 +0000

How’s this for another update – Media Matters has found and interviewed Brewster. And he defends Jennings BIG TIME:

http://mediamatters.org/blog/200910020020

This situation has morphed into a huge embarrassment for those speaking against Jennings.

And now anything else dug up about Jennings will look like blatant homophobia, as it should.

By: hazemyth

hazemyth — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:56:26 +0000

I guess I’m having a difficult time drawing the connection between my position on gay affirmation among teens and your question about vulnerability (which I took to be in response to my post).

By: Debbie Thurman

Debbie Thurman — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:33:40 +0000

And, since you ask, I wish I hadn’t spent years feeling ashamed that I might have been gay. It would have been easier to explore what I was feeling honestly, if I had felt otherwise. Instead, I spent years trying to avoid acknowledging those feelings with which, ultimately, I had to come to terms, one way or another.

Hazemyth, I asked how vulnerable you felt as a teen. I guess you could interpret that to mean how secure you were in your identity as you experienced it at the time. Were you susceptible to being preyed on, possibly? Could you know for certain at 15 or even 16 — and yes, this is relevant to the age question as regards Brewster — that you were really gay? Maybe you could, but I don’t think you would say that every kid could.

What I was saying about myself is I know I was vulnerable, immature and unable to clearly interpret all my adolescent feelings, and certainly vulnerable to being turned aside to believe that going down the gay road was what I needed to do. I was raised in the Christian faith. Lots of kids are. That presumes a values conflict with gay feelings for most, which is not automatically unhealthy, as the APA has recognized.

Did Brewster’s age matter: (a) for reporting purposes in Mass., and (b) in terms of his adolescent confusion and angst? Seems to me we have a two-part question here.