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He Got Fired, but I Lost Custody of our Community
A man lost his job for assaulting me, but I’m the one who never returned to the place we share in common
If I can make you understand one thing about the nature of how assault affects a community, it’s this. Once he put his hands on me, it didn’t matter what anyone said or did. It was always going to come down to me deciding whether I wanted to face the consequences of his actions.
It’s been five years since I’ve participated in Hollywood Fringe Festival.
It was easy enough to avoid thinking about this for a while — the assault occurred less than a week before Covid shut the world down. But as time passed and I began going places again, Fringe just never became one of them. Over the last few years, I’ve received countless invitations to see friends in shows. I’ve saved dates, made tentative plans… But every time I think about coming back to this community, I’m reminded of one problematic factor.
We’ll call that factor “Dave,” because for some reason, I’ve decided not to name him.
Five years ago, I went on a casual taco date with my long-time friend, Dave. He was about as safe as they come; the nicest nice guy anyone knew. And with well over 100 friends in common, I have to tell you I felt…
