Diversity Rules Magazine

5 Diversity Rules Magazine July 2018 impedes the ability for all of us to fully embrace that sexual assault happens to…people. And thus many men are not willing to come forward and discuss their sexual assaults. JRK: You have stated that there is a stigma attached to male sexual assault. Can you explain what you mean by that? RB: Guys are expected to be tough. Sexual assault is not something that many men are going to want to discuss if it occurs. So there is indeed a stigma attached to male sexual assault. us…silence. And that silence is so destructive for the health and well-being of a male who is sexually assaulted. JRK: Self-empowerment often comes as a result of a horrific experience. Since your incident, you have been on a cross-country journey to open up the dis- cussion about male sexual assault. What has that entailed and has it been an empowering experience for you? RB: is journey to get on e Late Show and open up discussions about these important issues with tens of thousands of strangers has been amazing. I encour- age people to watch the TEDx talk I gave about this journey and to also view the Emmy nominated docu- mentary produced by a group of students about all of this. ey are on the website BlakeLateShow.com. is journey has most certainly been empowering me and others. is is about us. Not the perpetrators of our sexual assaults. JRK: You have said you had an "a-ha" moment where you were watching Steven Colbert. It was at that point while watching the show you decided you would embrace the power of laughter and get on show. What was that "a-ha" moment all about and how have your efforts progressed to get on the show? RB: I had that moment of laughter on that suicidal night 32 months ago. e most significant thing about that moment was not that I laughed from that Stephen Colbert joke. It was that I recognized that I laughed. I paused the TV for about three minutes. It was such an incongruous moment. Suicidal. Laughter. I went with the pure emotion of an eight year old kid and told myself I was using that laughter…and I was getting on e Late Show as a guest. I was going to tell my story. I wasn't going to hide any more. I went to bed with hope that night for the first time in years. e next morning the idea to meet strangers with Sharpie markers and poster boards found its Ah-ha moment. JRK: Has there been any outreach to you on the part of the show yet? RB: I and many others have reached out to the show. Nothing yet. I think it will take word of mouth and a continued effort from everyone on social media. is project has become a massive incredible collective sto- ry of hope, support, love, and laughter. at is how we will get on the show. It will take a massive collec- tive effort of getting the story out there. Get Blake and the tens of thousands of messages on the show. is is much bigger than just me. A collective voice will get this accomplished. Finally. JRK: Since you have opened up about your sexual assault, have you found others that have experienced the same thing? RB: Over 1,300 strangers have shared their personal stories of sexual assault with me on this 959 day cross country journey. It is so cool to see what happens when you are willing to be vulnerable. It allows others to do the same. at is how we heal from our traumas. When we start talking and sharing. JRK: Now that the issue of sexual assault has been brought to the forefront with the "Me Too" Move- ment, do you feel male sexual assault is being given the same attention within that movement as female sexual assault? RB: e more we include males in our sexual assault discussions; the more likely it will be given the proper attention. It happens to anyone. JRK: Do you have any parting thoughts you would like to leave Diversity Rules readers? RB: I would encourage readers of Diversity Rules to share my website with friends. It truly is a collective sto- ry of the human spirit. ere are photos on the website of most of the giant foam poster boards with so many of the 25,431 messages in 87 languages that include artwork, poetry, jokes, short stories, bible verses, etc. ere are also photos on there of over 4,000 people of all walks of life I have met on this journey. We achieve so little alone. But we are able to achieve great things when we work together. Let's keep going until we get on e Late Show and celebrate this jour- ney of hope, support, love, and laughter. I've said that comedy is not the absence of trauma. It is the ability to take our traumas and find a way to still laugh. We will do that together with Stephen Colbert!

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