CNN’s Don Lemon used his platform to discuss the #MeToo era and his own history with sexual assault. The ongoing case with the Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, further divides the nation as sectors of the government try and justify the alleged assaults that took place years ago while Kavaugnah was still in high school and college.
Lemon began his remarks stating the difficulties victims face by highlighting the uniqueness in the ways they may come forward. “There is no standard way survivors talk about sexual assault, it isn’t always a police phone call and a rape kit or a report filed with HR, sometimes they don’t talk at all or years, even decades,” he said.
In the emotional video, the 52-year-old noted that he had waited to tell his mother until he had reached his 30s. This comes years after the abuse that Lemon had endured during his childhood at the hands of a teenage boy.
The Baton Rouge, La. native had previously spoken out about his assault exactly eight years ago with young members of the New Birth Church, who had appeared on the show to defend Eddie Long, a bishop accused of molesting young men.
The Transparent author was on the brink of tears when he spoke about his cousin who had been sexually abused within the confines of her relationship and how she still lives with her pain every day. Don Lemon condemned the “boys will be boys” notion, stating that regardless of age the pain is equally as real and will always remain the same.
Throughout the seven-minute video, Lemon urged people to challenge the ways we speak about victims of assault and how we dismiss their anguish. Watch the full video below.
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