I have a goal of 100 podcast speaking engagements/guest blog postings/articles on domestic abuse for 2022. That is not the disappointing part. Bear with me…
In sending out requests for podcast guest spots, I received a response from the host of an LGBTQ+ host that said they appreciated me reaching out, but that because I was an “ally” and not a “community member,” that they were not interested in interviewing me. I was a bit outraged. I reached out to them, despite being a heterosexual, to say that as a DV advocate, I am calling for law enforcement retraining, due to same sex partnerships/relationships abuse. I’ve read articles about law enforcement officers hauling in both parties, abuser and victim, to determine who abused whom. How triggering and traumatic would that be as a victim??? I was horrified and I reached out to this particular blog to speak about that within the LGBTQ+ community. I am an ally and a mother of a transgender daughter. This hits VERY close to home!
I am utterly disappointed in that hosts’ response to my request. Is that turning a blind eye? I figured that they would pre-interview me to see what my views truly were, but they did not even do that. They prejudged me based on being heterosexual — isn’t that a cruel irony? I’m wanting equality for IPV determination, which ultimately has to do with their sexuality. I want law enforcement to be retrained to know that there is an aggressor and a victim, regardless of how they identify or their sexual orientation. Abuse is not “cut and dried.”
Heck, I cannot get most people to acknowledge abuse in the “traditional man-vs-woman” sense, much less anything else. This is a HUGE problem people! Even when a man is being abused by a woman, there is SO much stigma and doubt! NO ONE deserves to bully ANOTHER person. Period. Relationship status and sexual orientation are no one else’s business.
Love is love. If the person who claims to love you is hurting you, that is NOT love. Plain and simple. The only explanation needed! Love and light!