I haven’t taken the time to say much about the election this week, because as I have searched for the words everything I could think to say just seemed so obvious. Which is exactly what makes it so infuriating. We as a nation elected a vile racist, a career conman, an adjudicated rapist, a fascist who already attempted one coup, and a blithering idiot who rambles about sharks, magnets, and Arnold Palmer’s genitals when asked basic policy questions to be the President of the United States. Again.
I am, like most of the people on here, disappointed, furious and disgusted by this result.
But that has all been said by a million people in a million places already.
So rather than rant any further about it, I want to send a message to those folks in my community who are most imperiled by this. My trans and gender nonconforming siblings, and my immigrant and refugee community.
I want to you to know that I see you. I don’t claim to fully understand the depth of your heartache and fear in this moment, but I do hear you and honor your words. I hold you in my heart, and I love you.
I also want you to know that the most radical, defiant and powerful thing you can do in the face of the bigotry and oppression the next four years will bring is survive. Live. Whatever it takes. Your life matters. Your life is a testament to the possibility of a better world.
St. Augustine once said that Hope has two daughters, equally beautiful. One is named Anger, and the other Courage. Anger at the injustice of the world as it is, and the courage to see that it does not remain that way.
For the next four years, lean on whichever of those daughters you need to. If you need to tap into rage at this travesty for fuel to keep living, then that’s what you do. If courage to fight for a better world for those that come after you is what keeps you going, then you fight with all of your strength.
You are not alone. There is still community, love and joy within reach. And your joy denies the satisfaction of those in power who would find it in your suffering.
Keep going. Keep fighting. Keep finding your joy and your chosen family. And above all else, keep living.
