It’s not a buffet

                I’ve always battled with a strong need to break out and say it like it is, just ask my poor Ma & Pa. From the beginning we are hit with messages about being polite and consequences are typically swift when you step out of line and question an elder or jump off the path that’s been chosen for you. Yesterday I felt sort of numb and sad. By last night I was furious thinking about the people that would smile at me and give words of support, all the while behind that voting curtain they were voting for a regime that has promised to try and reverse the federal recognition of my marriage and start systematically inserting racism and fear into our culture.

                I wonder about the narrative running through people’s minds when they voted for this man. Did my relatives & so called friends think about how a Trump presidency would impact my community?  Is it possible that some of the same people that congratulated us on our marriage then turned around and voted for a leader that said he would reverse the federal recognition of it? It can’t be that these people that “love” us would have voted for our rights to be stripped away, or for my husband to not receive my social security benefits if I pass away before him.

                Of course I am expected to accept this and shut my mouth as not to offend anyone or start a war within families and groups of friends.

                I would like to announce formally that I will no longer be polite and/or passive with people that do not believe that I am entitled to the same rights in this country as a straight man. I will no longer accept that someone’s upbringing is an excuse for their ignorant behavior as an adult. Your hate and prejudice becomes your own once you hit 25. (It’s my rule; don’t bother trying to argue with me). The biggest commitment I make will probably be one of the hardest because it is so much easier to just bite your tongue and let stupid people have their moment and then move on. Instead I commit to myself that I will speak up every single time I am confronted with support for Trump and I will be willing to anger, disappoint, and even alienate myself if necessary. I will no longer worry about making a situation uncomfortable by inserting my opinion and saying it like it is.

                The truth hurts and the truth is that half of this country doesn’t think that my rights are as important as theirs. Half of this country wants a wall, wants to deport Muslims, & wants to rip undocumented parents away from their American citizen kids and throw them back over the border. The numbers don’t lie and I don’t want to hear any bullshit about how you voted for him because of the economy and not his social views. It’s not a buffet you morons! You get what you get and you ordered the asshole. Enjoy…