If you've ever seen a few episodes of Oprah, Jack of all trades Tyler Perry has been very open about being sexually abused as a child (but has never publicly discussed his sexuality). So when he heard about the former 11-year-old boy who came out of the closet regarding the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of former Penn State University coach Jerry Sandusky, the mogul felt he needed to speak out on behalf of the young male who was recently forced to leave his high school after being bullied.
Here is Perry's open letter to Newsweek's Daily Beast.
I was a very poor young black boy in New Orleans, just a face without a name, swimming in a sea of poverty trying to survive. Forget about living, I was just trying to exist. I was enduring a lot of the same things that you’ve come forward and said happened to you, and it was awful. I felt so powerless. I knew what was happening to me, but unlike you, I couldn’t speak about it because no one saw me. I was invisible and my voice was inaudible.
So to think that you, when you were only 11 years old, spoke up—you are my hero! I’m so proud of you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I want you to know you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault. Please know that you were chosen by a monster. You didn’t choose him. You didn’t ask for it and, most of all, you didn’t deserve it.
Do you know that at the young age of 11 you had more courage than all the adults who let you down? All of the ones who didn’t go to the proper authorities, all of the ones who were worried about their careers, reputations, or livelihoods. All of the ones who didn’t want to get involved. Or even the ones who tried to convince your mother not to fight. You are stronger than them all!
I had a few of those adults in my life, too. They knew and did nothing. One of them even said to me that it was my fault, because I allowed myself to spend time with the molesters. And yes, this was someone who was in power and could have called the police, but instead this person allowed this criminal to go on molesting other young boys for many years.
Say what you want about Tyler Perry (and believe me I have), but I do applaud him for speaking out against something that is deemed taboo in this country. Men being sexually abused has been going on for a long time in this country, and it needs to be exposed and stopped.
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