Organizers say political pressure is the motivation to celebrate pride
Organizers say political pressure is a motivator to continue organizing and congratulating pride, but some business support is declining.
Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic descriptions that some readers may find worrying.
Ron Blake understands trauma. He also understands what it’s like to go through it.
Blake was raped over a decade ago. He was restrained, beaten and assaulted. Heads, including his former domestic partners, knew he was gay. The police did not arrest him. The documentary, released earlier this year, summarises his experiences.
To deal with his trauma, his brain blocked it all. He remembered a few things about what had happened, but the majority were gone. A few years later, in May 2014, a Time article jogged through his memories. Like lightning.
“I remember reading the cover story at lunchtime. It was about sexual assault on campus. For some reason, it just started to cause memories. And I remember turning off the TV. But my friend knew. Blake had told him the next day, but never raised it again.
What was going on? Dissociative amnesia, according to Blake’s counselor. “It took me a long time to truly accept that dissociative amnesia is real.”
What is dissociative amnesia?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, this condition can be “when your mind blocks important information about yourself and causes a “gap” in your memory.” “One of the most common reasons why your mind blocks things is to protect you from unpleasant, miserable, or traumatic experiences.” People may develop it from a one-off traumatic event or years of stress. Watching negligence, abuse, violence up close
“For many, the memories they recover are upset and overwhelmed,” adds Cleveland Clinic. “Mental health therapy helps you deal with those emotions and manage them in a healthy and safe way.”
Treatment and diagnosis are not perfect for all sizes. It’s not something that can be cured, it can be managed. Blake still can’t remember the specific details of the rape night, but his therapist said, “If you want to try it, that’s great, but look at where today. And is it really important?” The important thing is that he’s safe now.
Still, it’s a strange feeling. “Even though I’m explaining it to you, those memories may have been kept in my mind, but it doesn’t seem to be real that I have no access,” he says.
In Blake’s case, “The most destructive part was knowing that my ex-partner was involved in this,” his counselor told him he had dissociated. “Maybe my brain says, “Someone near you, someone you love this, could have done something very destructive to you.
“What you need to survive”
Blake survived a suicide attempt in May 2015, making Stephen Colbert’s joke make him laugh, and believes he stopped dying from suicide a few months later. He doesn’t remember any jokes today. “It wasn’t kidding what mattered. I was still aware that there was something good for me,” he said, “laughing.”
He has since made it his mission to share his story with strangers over the past decade. He met 34,320 to be exact. He is all written on the big poster board he carries around. What began with “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” trying to support him was snowballed by people who wrote song lyrics, jokes and biblical poems. They were opened to him about their lives, just as he was open to them.
“That was what I needed to survive. I had to talk to people and learn how to munch society and again rather than munch. “Look what I accomplished. I’ve come out. Look at all these people who listen to me.”
His trauma and dissociative amnesia can lurk in a dark background. But Blake stepped into the light of his own work.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, rain We provide support through our national sexual assault hotlines at 800.656.hope (4673) and hotline.rainn.org and enespañolrainn.org/ES.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, Domestic domestic violence hotline 800-799-7233 or text “Start” 88788.