Letter to the Editor: Lack of Accountability Within SF’s Skate Community
Before anyone gets upset, I’m not calling anyone out or looking to start “gossip.” I’m recounting personal anecdotes from my lived experiences, not sharing stories that aren’t mine. If you feel some of what’s described can be applied to your actions, try to evaluate that!
To be clear, I think skateboarding is a cool sport. I love that it’s easily accessible to kids of all socioeconomic statuses and is now recognized by the Olympics. I don’t have anything against people who enjoy skating. What I don’t care for is the tendency to tolerate and partake in misogynistic behavior.
From what I observed from spending time around skaters, there’s a prevalent willingness to overlook sexual abuse within their community. Or at least a hesitancy to believe victims who came forward. They can’t seem to accept the fact that people they willingly associate with could be capable of such abuse.
I had never knowingly met a rapist until I hung out around skaters. This particular rapist wasn’t held accountable for years until people decided to believe his victim. She endured endless harassment for the “allegations” presented against him. I don’t even know if she ever got an apology. When the reality of the situation was found out, it became an open secret whispered about before the predator was eventually cut off.
The skate community acts as a fraternity. I have nothing against the friendships and community created through shared interests among boys and young men. However, it’s primarily boys raising boys who grow up to be manchildren; thus creating a lack of accountability. It can be said that these things happened years ago while everyone was in high school, but the depravity of some of it is hard to look past; these actions are irredeemable.
I remember multiple friends dealing with private Instagram accounts leaking intimate photos they sent, essentially distributing child pornography. First, these guys would send these photos to group chats with their friends for some kind of gratification. It would go on to be shared with a wider audience consisting of the accounts following. Aside from this, a friend dealt with her ex sharing revenge porn, photos she wasn’t aware existed after she broke up with him to try to punish her.
What’s difficult is that no one pressed charges or possessed the bandwidth to hire lawyers and go through the legal process. No one wants to revisit their sexual trauma, you want to leave it behind and live their life. It’s up to you who you associate with and who you choose to cut off; your friends reflect your values. But this disturbing rape culture and lack of accountability enabling it seem embedded in the skate community; there’s a reluctance to address it even from the “good guys.”
-Alexa