From Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sue-kerr/sexual-assault-and-rape-culture-are-lgbtq-issues_b_2917112.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
Sue Kerr and Ian Finkenbinder
03/20/2013
The conviction of two young men for raping an unconscious young woman challenges us to rethink our assumptions about youth, the legal system and sexual assault.
We are both survivors of sexual assault. In the light of media responses to and other narratives established around the Steubenville rape scandal, we were prompted to discuss our experiences openly and honestly in order to give context to a complicated and uncomfortable topic. This is our first public discussion, a discussion that we agreed is necessary to illustrate the pervasive nature of the “culture of rape” and the need for the entire LGBTQ community to be allies to all survivors.
Our stories are not uncommon. When Sue was in her 20s, she was raped by her then-boyfriend. She had been drinking, but she had not passed out. She said “no,” but her boyfriend was stronger and had also been drinking. She had consumed just enough alcohol to remember the incident and blame herself for years.
Ian is a former meth user who is currently in recovery. During his times using, his intoxicated state prevented him from giving informed consent, leading him to be sexually assaulted several times. For months after his experience, he was unable to admit to himself that he had been raped, a result of socialization that made it difficult to conceptualize that a man could be victimized in that way.
We were both disappointed to read a tweet by respected gay blogger John Aravosis in which he implied that alcohol consumption should have been a consideration in the Steubenville case, and that the survivor needed to make a positive impression on him:
Continue reading at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sue-kerr/sexual-assault-and-rape-culture-are-lgbtq-issues_b_2917112.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
