Cate tried to correct these rumors: “I made comments too, on a couple of articles, blogs I was able to find … I did try to set the record straight …” But the internet wasn’t through twisting things around. Some even started accusing Cate’s camp of being the Rape Camp. Cate found those accusations on a random woman’s website: “She had a beef with our camp because our camp is BDSM-themed. I’m part of a camp that is, y’know, into that. And she felt that because she was not into that thing herself, ‘Well you know you can’t trust this camp. I heard that somebody got raped there. She was like brutally assaulted by this camp, and I heard that they were in on it.’ And I was like, whoa, that is totally not the case …”
That lady eventually deleted her post, but not before a bunch of strangers on the internet saw it and started threatening Cate’s friends with violence. And not before another completely innocent camp had their hobby tainted.
1
But At Least The Other Burners Were Incredibly Supportive
After being caught in Portland, Marlin was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and a lifetime on the sex offender registry. But the damage was done, and Cate will never enjoy another festival aga-
“I [still] go [to Burning Man] every year. Yeah, every year.”
Oh. Alright, then. Marlin didn’t get to ruin shit, and leaves no legacy whatsoever. Die and turn to dust, utterly inconsequential to the world, Marlin. Cate doesn’t hold a single bizarre hallucinogen-themed serial rapist against the festival itself. “I live in San Francisco. I can get raped walking outside any fucking day here. It’s just, a bad guy was out there.”
And it turns out that an event based around being open-minded is a pretty good place to find emotional support. “I tell people all the time, I love Burning Man. I had so much support from everyone there. The rangers were amazing. My camp was amazing. People were so supportive of me there, more than they would be in a city.”
The rangers she’s referring to are a group of 700 or so volunteers who take basic training in desert survival, first aid, and interpersonal conflict. They’re like cops, but without the authority to back up any kind of power trip. They vastly outnumber the police in Black Rock City, and they were much more helpful in Cate’s case. “When I told the rangers what happened, they were there every single day. They were making sure I was OK. They helped me find my bike two months later. They found my backpack, which was empty, and they sent it back in the mail. Y’know, when I go, every year, one of the rangers who came to my camp comes just to see how I’m doing.”
Cate is so very obviously not happy that she was raped by a comic-book-caliber villain, but she’s glad for the support she received in the immediate aftermath: “Once my theme camp learned what happened, they were there for me constantly.” And the support didn’t end when she and her mom headed home. “They’re still there, and they care.”
Also check out Raped On The Battlefield: What Male Veteran Survivors Know and 6 Realities Of Life When You’re Raped By A Celebrity.
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The post I Was Drugged And Raped At Burning Man: My Story appeared first on Cloud Authority.
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