'Yes means yes' law, 'Good2Go' app target campus sex

‘Yes means yes’ law, ‘Good2Go’ app target campus sex

Sept. 30, 2014 9:21 AM PT

This week brings news of two very different approaches aimed at stemming sexual assaults on college campuses.

One is a law known as “yes means yes.” It was signed Sunday by Gov. Jerry Brown and requires colleges and universities to adopt protocols that clearly and unambiguously state that participants must agree to sex.

The other is an app called Good2Go that two people are supposed to use before they have sex to assess their mutual consent -- and their sobriety levels. No, really. (And in this case no, really means just that.)

Here’s how it's supposed to work.

One person hands their phone to their prospective partner who is asked if they are “good to go." That person can either answer “yes” or “yes, but we need to talk" or simply “no.”

An answer in the affirmative leads to another screen to determine the person's sobriety level. Those answers range from sober to “pretty wasted.”

Respond with the latter and a screen pops up that says “No thanks!”

So you can’t say yes when you are intoxicated. Unless, of course, you choose “intoxicated but good to go.”

Yeahhhh.

Either way, your prospective partner enters his or her name and phone number into the app, and that information is collected by the company who developed the program, and then you proceed - or not.

According to the Washington Post, the legal section of the terms of service on the Good2Go website says the company can share information with "law enforcement, third-party service providers and e-mail marketers for any reason, in Good2Go’s sole discretion.”

A spokeswoman for the company, however said the that Good2Go has no plans to share information with third-party service providers, that data can only be obtained through legal channels and that each request will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

As for the new legislation, Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) who sponsored the bill, told the Associated Press that the law will make for a “paradigm shift in how schools prevent and investigate sexual assaults.” The legislation says silence or lack of resistance does not constitute consent and that someone who is drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep cannot grant consent.

As usual, people on Twitter quickly reacted to both approaches.

"Yes means yes" and the app to prove it

Here's a handy video with instructions on how to use the Good2Go app, if you are so inclined.

The question, of course, is would anyone in their right mind use it?In the meantime, politicians, celebrities and men and women alike weighed in on the new law, mostly in the positive. Some, however, disagreed with the law. Laurie Essig, an associate professor of sociology and gender studies at Middlebury College, called it "an ill-conceived detour for feminism."

What do you think? Do you think the new app is a good idea?

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