I don’t know what comes next. I don’t know what to expect. It’s serious. It’s real this time. Prepare for the worst-case scenarios and do not assume anything. A lot has been said about how this administration plans to handle queer rights. It could mean anything. No level of institutional violence against trans people is off the table as of now. Medications can be banned, non-conformity with assigned roles can be criminalized, conversion therapy can be accepted as widespread policy. I don’t know. The end result is it’s not good. Whatever this change in power means for us, it’s not good. I don’t want to downplay the seriousness of what’s at stake here.
That being said, as escape and resistance efforts materialize, this community will support them. We will persevere as queer people have always had to. When the systems fail us, we rely on each other. Grassroots efforts will come together in the coming weeks and months. I encourage people to do what they think is right and to do what they think will keep themselves and their families safe. We have to stay together and we have to love and protect each other. No matter what happens. Unity and queer power doesn’t stop now. Today is a day to mourn the loss of a safe world for so many queer people. Tomorrow, we should begin to steel ourselves for resistance.
I hope the best for everyone. This community is here to support us all as this unfolds. I’m so sorry. I wish there was more I could say or do. The waves of anxiety and fear have been washing over me for the past couple of hours. Let’s mourn together, I guess. And get ready for what comes tomorrow.
There’s some crisis lines in the sidebar I encourage anyone to make use of if you’re unsafe right now. Those are all explicitly trans affirming support lines.
I’m not American and I wasn’t able to vote in any American election. However, my heart goes out to all of my American friends, especially those in any group which has been clearly targeted by the incoming administration. Including certain races/nationalities, and LGBTQIA+ persons.
Stay safe, I’m sending you thoughts/prayers/vibes/whatever I can, hoping you will be safe throughout whatever comes next.
You didn’t ask for it, you didn’t vote for it, you don’t deserve it. I’m angry that we find ourselves in this position. Much love for you all from Canada.
I’m so fucking terrified. Currently trapped in a deep red state. The kind that has been building a registry of trans people. I don’t think I’m on it yet. Wondering when I’m going to have to leave everything behind and flee to a sanctuary state. I’m currently making plans but I have an entire year left on my lease
You need to get out of there now
same :-(
I haven’t even started my transition out of a deathly fear of judgement, but have been getting such severe dysphoria lately that I have almost become a danger to myself. Just knowing that half of America is ok with my rights being stripped from me is enough to stop me from transitioning, let alone all the incoming anti-trans laws. I don’t know what to do anymore.
Ya I feel you. I waited for a long time because it felt sooooo unsafe but it just got to be too much for me and when I medically retired I started. I’m still in the early enough stages that I could pass as masculine still, at least androgynous. I really don’t want to stop/pause but it’s definitely something I’m considering given the political climate. I wish you luck in however you decide. It hurts to be forced to be something you’re not for fear of being harmed.
Be safe.
Thank you for posting this
Just cycled past this town hall in Belgium. Also lots of churches here hang the flag, including the progressive trans one. In other countries too. In the smallest towns to the biggest cities.
I know that it might seem a bit mean of me to dangle this in front of you, but I just mean to say that there’s a way forward and hope.
This feels as bad as the morning after in 2016 did. 2016 was shock and disgust, 2024 is horror and fear.
This feels worse.
In 2016, I could at least rationalize that some people were voting for an outsider, a “billionaire” who promised to fight corruption in D.C. Anyone paying attention could see he was an immoral dipshit who was corrupt himself, but I could understand how he won.
Now? We’ve all had years to see who he is, and if that wasn’t enough, to see his rapid mental decline. This time I don’t understand.
I feel like this is worse because more is at stake. I personally have a whole family in Ukraine and they’re terrified, as I am too.
Been up since 5AM when I woke up to check the results. Talk about a waking nightmare… Been seeing talk about local and grassroots movements in other posts and that sounds like the best option for self-preservation. I’m fortunate to live in a progressive oasis in a red desert, so I’ll have to find out what’s around me.
My son and (trans) daughter in law were already talking about leaving the country if 45 became 47. At least our city is one of the safe areas (for now)
I’m terrified for them and my friends/found family
Mourning is definitely happening today.
It was already fascist before. Now it just wears it on its sleeve.
Always remember that we had a democracy. Fascists took it from us by leveraging the flaws in our institutions to take power.
The people who lie about our history do not value democracy, our freedoms, or us.
America was never a democracy, just four corporations in a trench coat pretending to be a democracy.
America was a democracy, but we had late-stage capitalism that was terminal. Neoliberalism was the scam that conned generations of Americans into clinging to flawed political institutions and capitalism long after they had demonstrated themselves to be ineffective.
Neoliberalism was so deeply rooted in the minds of the American people that they rejected socialism, the means of their liberation, without learning what it was and allowed fascism to flourish in their minds instead.
But we aren’t all dead yet. So as long as people are still alive we can organize against fascism. It may even be possible to take our democracy back. A good place to start is to tell people how great socialism and democracy are.
If they were so great, they wouldn’t need the PR.
What people need is organization and mutual aid to help them survive another Trump admin.
People can only hold one set of beliefs in their heads at a time. By not fully internalizing neoliberalism as a scam people are unable to internalize socialism as the answer to their problems. They can’t accept systemic change or wealth redistribution if their institutions are infallible.
And with all the people pining for a dictator that agrees with them, democracy needs all the love it can get.
What people need is organization and mutual aid to help them survive another Trump admin.
Yes, because instead of socialism and democracy we got late-stage capitalism and christo-fascism.
Pretty much.
If we lie about history we will be doomed to repeat it. We had a democracy and fascists took it. Organize to take it back. Tell people the truth so they don’t repeat the mistakes that got us here.
No it wasn’t, it was a republic.
No, it was a federal presidential constitutional republic which is a kind of democracy. The way a beagle is a kind of dog. Our democracy still intact until the inauguration at least.
So Bush winning in 2000 was a democracy, even though the popular vote was ultimately not a deciding factor? If a popular vote doesn’t determine if something happens, it cannot be a democracy.
Our democracy is flawed because of its flawed political institutions such as the electoral college that enables minority rule. What you’re describing is know as direct democracy which is a kind of democracy.
Even though we have representatives who vote on our behave that is also still democracy. Representatives are an innovation that allow democracies to scale to hundreds of millions of people.
Disproportionate representation to small states however, is another example of a flaw in our democracy that causes it to favor minority rule. This favoring of minority rule is also part how we got here. We needed record breaking turnout to correct for this and we the people did not deliver that.
Love you all. I’m so sorry.
My anxiety is up this morning, fuck, just fuck.
All I keep seeing on my feed from the mtf crowd is doom and gloom, meanwhile https://www.npr.org/2024/11/05/g-s1-32741/sarah-mcbride-transgender-first-delaware also happened last night, and no one even seems to want to acknowledge it. Instead it’s all I need to move to another country because America is so backwards.
Donald Trump has aligned himself extremely closely with transphobic groups and policies. He has spread transphobic conspiracies. He has stated his intent to dissolve American democracy when he takes power. It’s great that she won her race. For most transgender americans the concern isnt political representation it’s their access to healthcare and their safety.
nevermind the explicit plans to erase “transgenderism” from public life, which they might be positioned to do if they take the House and thus control all three chambers
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There’s no silver linings or little victories here. Nothing progressives won last night matters at all. It can all be undone at the federal level, and will be on day one.
The reason nobody’s talking about her is, if we can get them to forget she’s there, maybe she’ll get to live. But I honestly doubt it.
My mantra today is “all things shall pass” and is a hard one today. Don’t want anyone to suffer, and likely we need to plan for that, mitigation and damage control.
This passes like a kidney stone.
I give up
Please persist. I know it’s hard but those fuckers want us dead. Don’t give them what they want. Our existence is resistance.
Don’t give up. Be happy to spite them. Nothing makes them more upset than seeing our smiles.
I’m so sorry. We can’t give up though. So many vulnerable people need us. Our community is built on strong bonds and solidarity. We have to protect each other.
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