We’re brown, we’re queer and we’re not going anywhere
Now, more than ever, it is time to let them know that we are real and we count
Countless Facebook posts, retweets, protests from coast to coast, #notmypresident trending, Tomi running her mouth, campus riots, fear, tears and deep sadness and it’s only Day Two.
You might wonder how America got here. It’s been a hell of a journey from the primaries to Tuesday Nov. 8th, when the electoral college decided (Hillz took the popular vote, by the way) that Donald J. Trump was a fit follow-up to the legacy and hard work of President Barack Obama. Let that sink in.
My anxiety is at its highest. I have cried multiple times not only because my candidate lost, but because America , mi America lost. From the beginning this race was never about blue and red. This race was about choices — between an America that would embrace unity, diversity, acceptance, growth and hope and an America divided, that would embrace, segregation, sexism, racism and most of all hate.
To some my reaction might seem dramatic but its not, it is very real. We’ve had in this country a history of peaceful transition of power even when the races were not. But this race? This one was different. The 2016 race was divisive, important and most of all personal. It was necessary, as a proud gay Latinx man with deep-seeded roots in Mexican culture, to make sure that he did not take the office.
Unfortunately our country chose the latter.
I, product of a Mexican immigrant single mother, who struggled and overcame barriers to give me the opportunity to live the American dream, bleed. I don’t feel safe and I won’t for the next four years. I am scared that basic human rights and liberties for women, African-Americans, Muslims, POC, my LGBTQ+ family and immigrants will disappear. I fear that the country that has given me so much is ready to get rid of me.
Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a poised speech the morning after the election, as always she delivered with a smile. Me, on the other side, sobbing and angry, fired-up. And then she said it: “Fighting for what is right is always worth it.”
Those words will be our salvation, our call to action.
Trump has the office but we’re here, we’re queer, we’re women, Black, Muslim, immigrants and we’re not going anywhere. Now, more than ever, it is time to let them know we are real and that we count. We exist and we matter. It’s time to let our voices be heard and fight for the America that we hope to build.
As Trump calls for unity from the very people he chose to divide — after eight years of incredible disrespect for our president based on the color of his skin, mind you — I am left wondering if it’s fair to ask me and every person out there who shares my disappointment to stand behind Trump.
Some might say yes, I say no. America is not America if it’s only willing to benefit a few, to be opposed to change because they are too scared to embrace the beauty that diversity, hope and acceptance bring with them. It is not at my expense or anyone else’s that you get to enjoy your privilege and erase me. That is not the America I know nor will it be the America I pass on to our youth.
This is not only for me, it’s for all of us. My safety, your safety and the safety of others — mental and physical — is for everyone who hopes and fights for a better tomorrow and also for those who can’t yet comprehend that we are stronger together.
The people united will never be divided. The time to fight is now.