What you said about what we said last week

As most of the Twitterverse was engaged in llama drama OR stressed about a dress, our readers were singing the praises of Arts Editor Christina Cauterucci, who stepped away from her regular beat to share the story of her sexual assault (and the Metropolitan Police Department’s fair-handed response) for last week’s cover story, “Call and Response.” R wrote: “What a great piece. Thank you for sharing such a personal and well researched story.” Pat Walsh (@PTRQ), local music lover, tweeted, “Seriously, read that @wcp cover story by @portmantina. Its really great and important.”

We’d like to give special attention to those readers who shared their own experiences with harassment and MPD response. Encouraged wrote: “I’m also surprised and impressed at the response you got. When I called 911 about a peeping tom 2 years ago, the responding officers totally agreed that there had been a man crouched in my bushes and peering into my window. They did not seem to think they needed to do anything about it since their arrival scared him away.” brian’s ions suggested that MPD, “due to its institutional homophobia/transphobia,” may have a broader problem: “MPD is not transparent, particularly with anti-LGBT hate crimes. And it appears to be ‘losing’ hate crimes and biased policing cases as HRW discovered regarding their sexual assaults study. It would be great if DC JSC could develop a hate crimes and stalking adjunct advocacy service. The need is great.”

But hang on: Amid all this civil discussion, did we escape an interaction with the dreaded Men’s Rights Activists, those bedeviled hegemons whose collective mission is to remind us of their invisible suffering? Were we so lucky that no one chimed in to lament the plight of straight white men? Nope. Alan wrote: “You lost me when you wrote about ‘groups of bros’… Kinda pejorative and biased much?” Think of the bros! A commenter apply named Straight Man joined in. “Would you enjoy being treated like a predator, avoided and ignored? Or vilified by hypocritical, self-entitled women? If not, then being a ‘straight man’ probably isn’t for you.” Well, Straight Man: a woman who has been sexually assaulted in public would probably welcome the opportunity to be avoided and ignored.

General Interest

Aaron Wiener’s piece on the D.C. General homeless shelter a year after Relisha Rudd’s disappearance also brought out personal stories. really wrote, “Late payment on Rapid Rehousing happens often and is a real problem…. I know a family that got a rapid rehousing voucher…. The parent paid his portion but the District (probably through TCP, I now realize) was frequently late on their portion. Legal Aid helped get the rapid rehousing paid, but now there are eviction cases on this guy’s record.” stately_wayne summed up reader reaction neatly: “DC must get out of the housing business altogether. It’s not run right and will never be run right.”

Dude…

And finally, what better opportunity to show off one’s creative problem-solving skills, went the readers’ logic this week, than the legalization of pot? Rock has solved the problem: “If the party is big enough and everyone brings two ounces you could just light it in the fireplace.” Rock, you have my email. I’ll wait for the invite. Please also invite the fire department, just in case.

Department of Corrections

Due to a reporting error, “Call and Response” incorrectly identified the D.C. Office of Victim Services as a branch of MPD. In fact, it is an independent agency that reports to the mayor.