Read on Twitter
CW: sexual violence
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I’m sure that yesterday many of you saw the story from a very courageous survivor of Lex Allen’s violence, part of a pattern of sexual violence that others shared about on social media last summer: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ2fz_uHM6f/?igshid=1gv9uu8tnfefm
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I’m sure that yesterday many of you saw the story from a very courageous survivor of Lex Allen’s violence, part of a pattern of sexual violence that others shared about on social media last summer: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ2fz_uHM6f/?igshid=1gv9uu8tnfefm
One person noted that Lex has “been raping guys” since at least 2010. A whole decade. https://twitter.com/zegauchiste/status/1296446123805159426
alt text:
For those unaware, Lex is a popular artist and musician and seen as a leader (and given lots of platforms in arts, nonprofit and community spaces) in the queer community in Milwaukee. Lex is a Black trans person, and I’ve hesitated to be a public voice on their...
For those unaware, Lex is a popular artist and musician and seen as a leader (and given lots of platforms in arts, nonprofit and community spaces) in the queer community in Milwaukee. Lex is a Black trans person, and I’ve hesitated to be a public voice on their...
behavior because I’m not Black, not trans, not directly a part of their community, and I believe that communities can and should be the ones to aid each other in accountability. However, there are ways that Lex’s violence is personal to me that I want to share about.
Despite having a couple friends and many acquaintances (including Lex) in the Milwaukee music community, it’s not a community that I’m very active in or would consider myself a part of. But, when I was 18-19 years old, it was a community that I was a lot more active in.
I helped run a music blog, interviewing and corresponding with lots of musicians. I went to lots of shows and was obsessed with the local music scene. I saw a lot of the same people at shows and got to know people, most 5-10 years older than me, including Lex. I was still in...
high school when we first met. I looked up to lots of people in the music scene, including Lex. I got many of my friends interested in local music and brought them to shows. We all looked up to some of the artists in this community. During the summer after graduating high school,
Lex tried to groom a friend of mine, who was freshly 18. Later, he tried to groom the younger sibling of a friend of mine, who was 16. We didn’t view Lex’s behavior through this lens at the time, but that’s what happened. These spaces failed us as young people. They were not safe
for us. Not only did we look up to these people, but we trusted them, and they failed us. This community has failed many, as is now being brought to light, and I imagine will continue to be. And not just because of Lex, but because of a community that enabled Lex, that enabled...
sexual violence from many, not just Lex. The more I was around people within this community and built some trust with people within it, I started to hear whispers about abuse and sexual violence from a number of people in the artist community. It’s part of the reason that I...
decided to be less involved. It’s been 5 years since I was actively involved in Milwaukee’s music scene, and like I said, it’s a community that I mostly just have loose acquaintances in. So, I place myself here more as someone with care and concern for survivors of Lex and others
in this community than as someone who’s speaking as a part of this community. When we learn that someone in our community (any community that we might belong to) has perpetrated violence and abuse upon many others in our community, we must realize that we’ve failed as a community
We must realize that the relationships that we hold to each other need interrogating. We must consider the moments where we’ve turned a blind eye. Our communities start with our closest relationships. Which is to say that in this situation, those the closest to Lex have failed...
the most. This moment of reckoning is an opportunity for transformation. First and foremost, it’s an opportunity for survivors to be centered, held, have their needs responded to, and hopefully find healing and transformation. And it’s also an opportunity for a community to be...
transformed: for the conditions of the relationships and spaces held in this community to be transformed to be more full of love and accountability and to prevent future violence and abuse. Sending love and light to all survivors.
