r/DenverProtests

"Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness: The formula for democracy is a thing of multiple parts. At its core is nothing solid, just a framework, on which pieces brought across oceans can be conjoined. From many, one."

This July 4th:

Let's be real. Most of us are too poor to go anywhere else, and that's IF they would let us live there anyway.

Be mad at our politicians. Be mad that we are under the ass crack of corporate greed. But we got nowhere else to go, so fix what ya got.

Went to go drop off my ballot when a White unmarked SUV cut infront of me going south on grant. Drove erratically and also had what looked like police spotlights above the mirrors folded inwards, I went around them when I saw not only were the windows heavily tinted and looked like multiple silhouettes inside but I saw the were behind two other large unmarked SUVs one black one and another white one, they parked at grant and 16th. Further down the road another white SUV parked in the middle of traffic blocking traffic passing the capital building. Smells like ice to me. This was 10 min ago I just got home. They might still be there if anyone is in the area.

UPDATE:
Called the line and went back there. I was on the phone with the line and they sent other confirmers. I met up with them and then asked the guys standing in front of the vehicles to identify their department. They stated they were with Denver police department. I asked if they were working with ice and they said no definitely not. I asked for the other confirmers opinion and we agreed that ice wasn’t in the area. I still took pictures and sent them to the line, but everybody stay safe out there and make sure to VOTE BY JUNE 30th Before 7PM.

I was watching some videos that a group was showing on 16th of animals being brutally slaughtered for us to eat. When a lady came up to me to talk about it, she was cutting me off like one million times and was talking down to me. She asked how I would feel in those animals positions.

When I asked her if she was also spreading awareness about Gaza, and how those innocent people are being brutalized and slaughtered she got so mad. She cut me off and dismissed it by saying “thats a different tragedy, I’m talking about the animals.”

She then told me about cows being impregnated forcefully, (trying to not break any rules or guidelines with my words), but she said very vulgar words.

I, like most women, have trauma related to things of this nature. She even said that, and hit me with this.

“You, as a woman, are causing this to these female cows. You’re causing them to be r****.”

When I tell y’all I was one second from going to prison when she said that to me.

When I protest, saying something as NASTY as that never crosses my mind no matter how mad I might be about an issue. Has anyone had an experience like this? I genuinely am still feeling so sick and angry from how almost happy she was to tell me that to my face.

Edit: didn’t realize I left this out, but she walked up to me and was no joke less than a foot from me. Like my shoulder was four inches about from her.

It's bad form but one sentence of vouching: I do mutual aid, CORRN, protests, campaigns, etc. I do a lot of activism and I do improv as a hobby. The two rarely meet but I'm in a unique position to warn folks of a small intersection and keep folks safe.

I was bullied/harassed at Rise Comedy last year after they promoted themselves with a tent at Pridefest last year. I tried bringing it to the owners, but one of them was just pro the harassment and instead of hearing my concerns, joined the harassment campaign. Mostly it consisted of making up stories about me that were "big if true" but were clearly false. The fake accusations mostly played to "man in a dress" tr*nsphobic stereotypes and when I tried to speak to the owners about it, one of them just tried to debate me about it. They knew the claims were false, but argued that I deserve the harassment citing how I express myself as tr*ns. Very debater bro chud coded. Very uncomfortable.
To give an idea, they made up problematic improv scenes I was in whole cloth. Like it's hard to prove a negative, but they made up a story that would have both been recorded and would have had an audience. Believability wasn't the goal of the campaign, it was harassment.
(This was over a long conversation and many long email exchanges, where the owners were constantly changing their stories. most of which is distraction. I'm not trying to be vague but it's a lot to distill. I have receipts for everything I've said and am happy to have further conversations about it in DMs and IRL).
After that months long process, I resided to just leave it be, but an owner was continuing to escalate, spreading some of the rumors to other theatres putting my success and safety at risk outside of Rise, so I'm posting. I'd rather let it alone, but they keep escalating.
I did speak to some other community members before posting and will say results were mixed. Some thought my story was completely consistent with Rise's culture and shared their own stories while others were surprised and didn't think my experience was reflective of Rise, generally. I can't share any one else's story because Rise owners have a track record of retaliation.
Rise Comedy is an especially difficult place to feel safe at. They don't have a gender neutral bathroom, and you have to find street parking downtown at night to attend their shows/classes. The vulnerability they ask of their queer patrons combined with having openly tr*nsphobic community members and owner just makes it impossible to feel safe there.
Call to action: Be careful. If you see Rise's booth tomorrow, go for it. Anyone actually at Pridefest tomorrow is probably lovely. Just know the theatre is run by and attracts unsavory folks. If you win a free show or something, just be wary, have a plan to stay safe, and look out for the dolls.
But also, every other improv community has gender neutral bathrooms and safe parking options. If you have had or do have a bad experience with Rise, you might just need to find a different community. There are explicitly queer friendly improv spaces and even a free option on Lavender Hill. No community is perfect, and improv communities are often dreadfully behind the times, but I sure would like more representation and dolls to play with so I hope this doesn't scare folks off.

If you're tr*ns and my warning doesn't resonate, cool. I'm glad you're having a good time and hope it continues. I'm not calling for a boycott or anything, just giving a warning informed by my experience.
If you're cis and my warning doesn't resonate, also cool, but I don't expect it to and trust me when I say I've already heard your perspective. Still glad you're having fun, though.

As a final preemption of comments I don't want to read, the Rise owner cut off the dialog and suggested I make a Reddit post if I was still upset with their actions. I was more than willing to continue working with Rise to find resolution and ways of making qu**r folks feel safe and included. They chose to end the process and escalate tensions.

See you at the parade! Remember, Prides still a protest!