I would rather die trying, than live like this.
When I think of the commitment it takes to get through a project like this, I have my own heroes to look to. By far, one of the best, is Harvey Milk. San Francisco, City Supervisor that believed in the challenge of bringing the gay people to the forefront of the City of San Francisco for fair representation in the city that they love so much. The city that we all love so much. Harvey was a fighter...he believed in the good fight and sticking up for yourself. You can't ever let someone take something from you that you deserve as a human being. Harvey was a testament to the concept of try, try again. He lost many elections until he won. He knew his office would be somewhat controversial and dangerous, but he would rather take a bullet through his heart than not use that same heart to love his community to its fullest. Harvey was a leader...a champion of the people.
Speaking out in a city where people are jailed for doing so can be a scary thing. My boyfriend was put in jail simply because I love him. He spent a year and a half in jail for something he absolutely did not do. His face was on television and lies were spread about him to make him look like a bad person. It was awful. I wonder what Harvey would have said about that? I was also jailed for reporting a crime of violence against myself. When I complained about that, I was jailed again. The arrests were a warning, but what happened inside the jails were an even bigger injustice. Left in cold dark rooms in Indio with nothing but a blanket to cover my nude body in a jail cell covered with blood, mucus and feces with a hole in the floor for a toilet...I slept on the floor overnight. The booking officer was another of Laurie's "police officers" that was "in" on the torture. It was obvious again.
Again, in the courtroom, the judge imposed a sentence that wasn't even legal for a crime that was committed. You can't even give that sentence for what was charged and yet, it stood. I could see the crimes being committed, but the benefit of the electronic harassment railroading sentencing was too great to pass up. The humiliation of being a gay male victim of rape and stalking in the Coachella Valley makes this crime extremely unique. It makes people afraid to talk. It makes them fear for their safety. There is a silent gag that is imposed and a real gag hood put over your face in the holding cell. At one point, the police put an actual spit hood over my head, as if my HIV posed some kind of physical risk to police officers. It was humiliating. I know that when my boyfriend was in custody, they put him on the floor, when he refused to give permission for a blood test. They put a knee into hit buttock and he was forced to give his blood for testing against his will. Without a court order, the police can not take your blood without your permission. They took it anyway.
The humiliation of the victims of electronic harassment is unbelievable. We have never been given a safe environment in which to to tell our side of the story. What this is like for us. Laurie doesn't wan this to happen. All of the victims don't know each other. We haven't all spoken. What harm could come from asking them what they went through when they were put into custody after they were arrested? I know about Christopher because it is in his court file. I can't believe some of the injustices that are suffered in silence because of the fear of a loss of freedom.
Harvey Milk would want all of us to speak out about what we know is true. I did that on the television news and the police said, "Kevin Bond has mental issues". I think that is a good example of what happens to gay men when they try to help the police department find out whom is behind these crimes here in the Coachella Valley. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't speak out though, it means that more of us need to do it. There is safety in numbers. You can't expect there to be change without speaking up for yourself and others. Nobody is going to do it for you. You have to do it for yourself and others. One stone can have a ripple effect.
Silence is golden. If you don't have anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all. This is what we are taught. It's not practical in a situation where your rights as a human being are being stolen. There are times when you benefit from keeping your mouth shut and listening and there are times when you benefit from opening your mouth and screaming. This is NOT the time to be silent. When you know that someone is trying to hurt you or someone you love, you need to talk about it. You need to let people know that you aren't going to let anyone keep you from being the person that lets other people suffer from your silence. Don't be that guy or girl. I've seen it happen with my own friends and it makes them very upset. When your silence ends up costing someone else a future you've done to someone else what someone did to you. I know you may not know who that person is, but wouldn't you have wanted someone to have stopped this before it came to your doorstep? I'm that guy. I'm the guy that wants to keep Laurie from entering someone's home that I don't know. I don't want another kid to know what she sounds like when she's so high she says something that no kid should ever hear. I don't want another mother to hear her kid has HIV from a doctor while that kid is still trying to figure out how that could possibly have happened. I want to be the guy that took away that one guy that Laurie just couldn't get her mind off of. I was that kid. I am that man. I want to stop her. Don't you? Please try to remember your innocence for your own family's sake. We all deserve a future without Laurie in it.
