As part of an interview process for Planet Waves FM — Pacifica Radio Network, I received the following statement from Li Wojehowski on Dec. 18, 2019 (additional coverage and resources linked here).
Dec. 18, 2019
To Whom it May Concern:
My name is Li Wojehowski. I am originally from the Hudson Valley, NY. I grew up in Orange County and am a graduate of SUNY New Paltz. I identify as queer and nonbinary, and consider myself an intersectional feminist.
With considerable effort over many months, I managed to work my way into the life of Eric Francis Coppolino. I was a fan of his work and wanted to meet him and be his friend. I was in his life of my own choice and free will. At no time did he seek me out.
I spent considerable time alone with Eric under several different circumstances, and he was honest, direct and in no way ever harmed me.
I have never seen Eric engage in any inappropriate behavior or misconduct. In my experience, he is a gentle person who aspires to do no harm.
Eric and I sometimes had ideological disagreements. Like other locals who identified as feminists, I was angry about his article, “Take a Step Back,” published in Chronogram.
This article called for equal treatment of male and female abuse survivors, and called out the potential false accusation problem in the Me Too movement. My anger at the article was based mostly on its premise, as I perceived it, rather than the content.
Everyone involved in Me Too Kingston was angry about the article. In many ways, Me Too Kingston was a protest against a piece of writing.
I joined the Me Too Kingston movement against him (there were no other targets), and offered my services as an organizer. I attended several meetings, the purpose of which was to get Eric fired from all of his jobs. There was no attempt at restorative justice. The goal was to destroy his career.
I deeply regret my involvement, and doing damage to Eric’s life and reputation.
At that time in my life, I was wounded and hurt. I saw the need for someone to step in and address the situation from a restorative perspective, but I couldn’t muster the energy to do it. It was much easier — and frankly, more soothing to my ego — to go along with the attempts to annihilate Eric. The consequences of the campaign have been detrimental.
The meetings were organized by Hillary Harvey. I now understand that Hillary did not even know Eric, nor was she ever harmed by him.
In my initial private meeting with Hillary Harvey she told me Eric was the “Harvey Weinstein of the Hudson Valley.” She also wrote this in a Facebook post. Caught up in the hype, I bought into this idea because it was convenient for our story. I now understand this was not at all truthful. In fact, I already knew from personal experience that Eric is not only extremely gifted, but also open-hearted, unusually generous, and genuinely invested in the well being of those around him.
The purpose of the Me Too movement is to fight sexual harassment, assault and abuse, and I personally heard no such accusations against Eric. Most of the claims I heard were hearsay, and all of them were vague. Any claim that was made required no proof or backup. Anyone could have claimed anything.
I regret that this false incident distracted attention from actual abuse survivors and actual perpetrators, which in the end only damaged the integrity of the Me Too movement and feminism in general.
To my knowledge, the group made no attempt to contact Eric, so he had no ability to respond to the discussion, answer questions, or defend himself.
Finally, as a gender non-conforming person myself, I was aware that Eric was being stereotyped as a “typical, abusive cisgender man”, and I did nothing to correct that perception, even though I could have.
I regret that this false incident distracted attention from actual abuse survivors and actual perpetrators, which in the end only damaged the integrity of the Me Too movement and feminism in general.
I cannot speak for the others who were involved. I do believe many of them, like me, had good intentions. If any of those folks happen to read this statement and reflect, I encourage them to share their own truth.
I deeply regret my involvement, and doing damage to Eric’s life and reputation. Despite any seeming differences we may have had, Eric always proved himself to be considerate and caring. Moreover I believe that both personally and professionally, he is sincerely devoted to subverting the aspects of our culture that normalize rape and sexual abuse by helping people of all genders heal sexual wounds, and achieve healthy sexual relationships with themselves and others.
Sincerely,
Li Wojehowski
For additional resources related to my case, including articles, letters of reference and legal pleadings, please visit this page.
