The son of NBA icon Isiah Thomas has broken his silence about his past while advocating for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts, Zeke Thomas opened up about how life as a gay Black man and revealed that he was raped twice in his life, the most recent being just last year.
“Being gay, being African-American, it’s definitely something that I never imagined would happen to me,” Thomas said.
“At first I didn’t realize what had happened, what had transpired. I knew that it was wrong, I knew that I did not want it. I did not seek it out.”
On being sexually assaulted last year, Thomas felt that his attacker robbed him of his “manhood” but he never pressed charges in either case because he was afraid of being labeled a “victim.”
“If I could go back, there’s 100 percent I would press charges,” Thomas said. “If we could find…the assailant today, I would 100 percent press charges.”
As far as his family goes, he says that it was hard breaking the news to them but they have been supportive.
“I hadn’t let my family know until much later that this had happened,” he said. “It was definitely hard for them to hear, and even more hard for them to hear that it happened again.”
He adds, “They let me know they’re here for me and [said], ‘We’re gonna do everything in our power to help you through this journey.”
The 28-year-old DJ and producer is also an ambassador for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, an organization that focuses on “preventing and responding to sexual violence through collaboration, sharing and creating resources, and promoting research,” according to its website.
“I want to give the voiceless a voice,” Thomas said. “The healing really begins with the voice. The healing begins with, this happened to me. I can get through it.”
When it comes to healing, Zeke also says he turns to music. He has already worked with industry greats including Jay Z, Lady Gaga, and Diana Ross.
“Music has been very therapeutic to me, and writing the songs, and coming out with music to express the way I feel,” Thomas said.
Statistics show that 1 in every 10 men have been a victim of sexual assault with that number equating to just under 20 million. Unfortunately, most of them will never report it.
For more information, please visit RAINN.org
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Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/dj-zeke-thomas-reveals-raped-stars-sexual-assault/story?id=46987592
