Slaves-2014

Slaves guitarist speaks out on stabbing: "We are far from a free world"

Following our earlier report on Alex Lyman, the Slaves guitarist has posted a picture of his stab wound on Instagram, along with a lengthy note. “I'm sorry if anyone didn't want to see this, but I want to show the world that we are far from a free world.” Read all of what he had to say below.

Read more: Stabbing of Slaves guitarist being labeled as a hate crime by police

Warning: Graphic image below.

I'm sorry if anyone didn't want to see this, but I want to show the world that we are far from a free world. To think that if I would have bought different pants or decided to look differently would have prevented something so hateful and physically but more so mentally and emotionally traumatizing from happening. As hard as it is to believe me and my friends did nothing to cause confrontation, all it takes is one hateful person with too much power and an opinion of his own to put me and my friends in a situation that left our loved ones terrified that they may never see us again in their life. For one man to try and murder 3 people that he would never have to see again in his life because his one opinion of how we have decided to present ourselves. I'm so glad to be here another day and even more glad my friends Weston, Blake and brad our still here to show the world that being a man isn't measured by the amount of pain you can cause to one another but by the willingness to be someone that you love and the acceptance to love others for who they are. I live in a world that I am more scared of now than the last 25 years of my life. But the support myself and the people involved have received gives us a genuine reminder that change may not be complete, but the will and the love for it is there. I love Weston, Blake and brad and jess and anyone who's reached out from the bottom of my heart. If it wasn't for all these people and the support of my mother and wonderful girlfriend I'm not sure I would have wanted to make it off the operating table to live in a world that seemed so dark at the time. Thank you everyone for reminding me of not a life that is, but a life that can be, from the bottom of my heart.

A photo posted by Alex Lyman (@alex_lyman) on