Anti-Violence Help in Orlando?

[bigjake8]

My step brother was just raped by three guys while escorting in Orlando. The police are useless, and just threatened to throw him in jail before they even start to investigate. Are there any groups in Orlando, or Florida for that matter that deal with this kind of thing?

[+ deej]

Jake, first of all my heart goes out to your step brother! I know three guys this has happened to and you're right: law enforcement is useless.

 

I don't know of any organization in Orlando, but I'm willing to bet that if you contact Sharon Kane's AIM in LA they may know someone who can at least provide comfort, guidance, and care. If you need contact info, please private email me.

 

Love your step brother as much as you can because that's what he needs right now.

[Guest showme43]

Could try the Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Community Center

407-228-8272 / http://www.blbcc.org

they do referrals to Doctors, Lawyers, etc. maybe can be of some assistance here.

[Barry]

I also have a friend that this happened to. Your step brother's mental and physical health are of upmost importance right now. As Deej said, be there for him.

 

I will assume the rape was bareback. He needs to immediately contact a physician knowledgable in HIV. As of a couple of years ago there was an intense anti-HIV med regimen that can be given to help prevent the virus from taking hold. It was somewhere between 4-8 weeks of meds. The trick is it must be started ASAP. Check with a knowledgable Doc now. I'm sure one of the GLBT referral sources knows of local docs.

 

Barry

[bigjake8]

Thanks for your input. I've been keeping in touch. He seems to be keeping it together. The police really shook him up on the phone, he's more paranoid of them than the guys that attacked him.

 

I'll keep at it. Trying to get him to get the hell out of Florida. I grew up there, and am well aware of why I left, after this.

[floridarob]

I live in Orlando...where did this happen? Not for the details, so I know where to be careful...or more careful at least.

[duke37]

Please accept my concern and sympathy on behalf of your step-brother.

 

Is there something we can do to help? From complaining to the police to writing letters to the editor.

 

Are there more details you tell us about what happened without making the situation worse? I agree with floridarob that it would good to know so at least others could perhaps protect themselves from being victimized.

 

Jeff

[jaden]

>Thanks for your input. I've been keeping in touch. He seems

>to be keeping it together. The police really shook him up on

>the phone, he's more paranoid of them than the guys that

>attacked him.

>

>I'll keep at it. Trying to get him to get the hell out of

>Florida. I grew up there, and am well aware of why I left,

>after this.

>

 

 

Im sure there is such risks in any state... not just Florida...

 

Best wishes for your brother =/

 

...Things like this show how scary the world we live in can be =/

[bigjake8]

>

>Im sure there is such risks in any state... not just

>Florida...

>

 

 

No, FLorida is the kind of place where the cops would actually put a rape victim in jail for coming forward. Just an authoritarian cesspool.

[chrismac]

Jake - I too am abhorred by the news of your stepbrother. No person should ever have to go through that, with the possible exception of the perpetrators themselves.

 

Why would the police threaten to throw him in jail? Did he tell them he was escorting when the rape occured?

 

Regardless, there's no justification for the inaction on the part of the police, but are the police taking this stance because of the gay issue, or the escorting issue (or both)?

 

My best thoughts for your stepbrother. It sounds like he has some good family on his side.

[bigjake8]

He lives in Orlando, which is extremely authoritarian, and anti-prostitute. In fact, the police forced the yellow pages to stop carrying escort ads by claiming they were racketeering by carrying the ads.

 

In this case, after it happned, he called the police, and told them, and asked for advice. He was told that he would be arrested on the scene. Perhaps he didn't need to admit that he was escorting, but the guys that did this would very likely have told the cops themselves. Either way, he is screwed. The message here is that if you are an escort in Orlando, you are on your own. He was even too scared to go to a hospital, so no rape kit was done.

 

 

 

>Why would the police threaten to throw him in jail? Did he

>tell them he was escorting when the rape occured?

>

>Regardless, there's no justification for the inaction on the

>part of the police, but are the police taking this stance

>because of the gay issue, or the escorting issue (or both)?

>

>My best thoughts for your stepbrother. It sounds like he has

>some good family on his side.

[Guest Tristan]

So sorry to hear what happened. I live in South Florida. I moved here three years ago after spending most of my life in Boston. There are many things I don't like about the state and many things to which I will never get accustomed. However, not all parts of Florida are equal. Orlando is smack in the middle of the politically "red zone" i.e. conservative Republican George Bush country with plenty of red necks to go around. South Florida is much more liberal. While I'm sure anything could still happen here to gays, there is a lot more tolerance and support. Gay people are much more accepted in the Miami- Fort Lauderdale area and generally get along with the rest of the population. And South Florida is in the "blue zone" politically.

 

It will probably help if we could vote Jeb Bush, the governor, out of office.

 

Best wishes to your stepbrother for recovering from this horrible incident. Just give it time. You never fully recover from things like this, but like everything, time helps.

[ServeUncutUncle]

>My step brother was just raped by three guys while escorting

>in Orlando. The police are useless, and just threatened to

>throw him in jail before they even start to investigate. Are

>there any groups in Orlando, or Florida for that matter that

>deal with this kind of thing?

 

If he lives in the electoral area of the City of Orlando I suggest he contacts:

 

http://www.cityoforlando.net/elected/council/sheehan.htm

 

She is the most powerful gay person in the city and a totally honest individual [unusual for a politician].

 

Finally have faith in the Orlando Police, this week they sent one of their own to prison for 26 years for a sex crime albeit after a rethink by the judicary.

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-locmann04080404aug04,1,1251914.story

[Rick Munroe]

>It will probably help if we could vote Jeb Bush, the governor,

>out of office.

 

Florida now has easily hackable electronic voting with no paper trail...is it even possible?

[Guest ReturnOfS]

I just read this. This is bad. I wonder if contacting the ACLU would do any good.

[Guest Tristan]

It's worse than that. The machines don't always work correctly. We could have a replay of four years ago with Florida deciding the election. Except this time, as you have pointed out, there's no backup check on the count.

[bigjake8]

Thanks for your help. He's figured out what to do. Just think "Megans Law", but without the law.