Hector Martin

There is this cultural perception that alcohol makes people do thinks they normally wouldn't do. That it somehow changes who one fundamentally is. That things you do while intoxicated "don't count". That your hand "just slips". I call bullshit.

I drink. Not often, less often to the point of being significantly intoxicated. But I know what getting very drunk and having a crippling hangover most of the next day is like. I'm sure I've said some stupid shit. You know what getting drunk doesn't do? Change who I am.

Getting drunk lowers your inhibitions, but it doesn't erase your morals. It might make you less likely to consider consequences, but it doesn't magically make wrong things seem right. If you do something while drunk, then it's something *you did, and would do*.

Want to know the kind of stuff I've done while drunk? A classic of the CCC afterparties was hacking into the bar computer and doing some random stuff. Changing the password, ASCII art demos, a Debian chroot was involved at some point. Is that totally me? Yeah.

I would not do that normally, because that's someone else's property. But does it represent my morals? Yeah, it does. I wasn't hurting anybody, I left things the way they were, I just had some fun. I may have changed what I *chose* to do while drunk, but not what I consider doing

Getting drunk doesn't magically move your hands to someone else's breasts or ass. If you're doing that while drunk, it means **that is the kind of person you are**. You might *choose* not to do it sober, perhaps due to the fear of consequences, but you still think it's OK.

And you know what that means? That you'd still do it. That deep down, if you had the chance to do it sober, with zero consequences, and perhaps (if you still have some concern for the other person, which isn't a given) zero remorse, you'd do it.

Alcohol is the Konami Code, not a GameShark. It only lets you do things that are already in the program. Jiggling the cartridge doesn't turn Super Mario World into Pong. Alcohol doesn't come with a built-in total-control "you are now a sexual predator" TAS sequence.

So I call bullshit on this idea that what you do while drunk doesn't count, doesn't represent who you are. It damn well fucking does. More than what you do while sober. It represents your true feelings. And if you cross a line, that line was never a line for you.

And what if I'm wrong, and some people really do change while drunk? They aren't just self-repressed sociopaths showing their true colors, but truly have their core morals warped by the influence of ethanol? Then don't fucking drink. It's still your responsibility.

It's only recently that we've begun to seriously call zero tolerance on nonconsensual sex (i.e. rape) while intoxicated. Even then, some people still subscribe to the toxic idea that it doesn't really count. Guess what, it extends beyond rape. It goes for everything.

It goes for groping. It goes for drinking and driving. It goes for any kind of harassment. It goes for reckless behavior that would put others in danger. Alcohol is never an excuse. The only thing you get a free pass on is looking/acting like a (harmless) idiot. Period.