I’ll vent a bit here to get started. When I was 15 I was sexually assaulted by a woman and no one would believe me. Or if they did believe me, it was the “well what’s the problem, was she ugly or something?” Usual spiel. I still have PTSD over this but I cannot speak of it to anyone because it’s the same shit over and over again. When I was 16 my girlfriend put out her cigarette on me for the first time. This would continue for the next year and a half before I managed to leave her. I still have over a dozen scars inflicted by her.

I have an EXTREMELY hard time trusting anyone or forming attachments in general because of what’s been done to me and I really don’t have anyone to talk to about it other than my brother, who went through his own physical. When I was 21 I got into a mentally and emotionally abusive relationship and I let that go on for three years because I had been conditioned into thinking that it was normal, and I had to just “man up” and take it in my previous relationship so I considered the step down from physical abuse to be a bit of a blessing. It wasn’t.

I wish I had had someone to tell me that none of this was okay, that I did not have to let myself suffer through these things, that just because I was a man did not mean that I was a free ride to whoever wanted me and I shouldn’t compain because I “got some”, that I am a human being who has feelings and emotions and should be allowed to express them without being threatened with physical harm.

I want everyone in this place to be that kind of person for everyone else in this place. I want this to be a place free of judgement to share the things that you can’t share with others. And I want us to come together as a community to support everyone who comes here seeking help. Life fucking sucks but together we can make it a little less sucky.