

Transgender millennial reflects on the election (a guest post by Joel Johnson)

presidential-electionOkay. I’m finally ready. If you don’t want to read anymore stupid posts about this election, please look away now. WARNING: THIS IS A LONG READ, BUT I’LL POP A TL;DR* AT THE BOTTOM

First off, please know where I stand. I voted for Bernie in the primary, as did a vast majority of my friends. I voted for Hillary in the election, and again my friends were on the same page. So my views of this election definitely come from inside of a liberal bubble, and I’m willing to admit that.

I want to start by addressing hypocrisy. When I was a kid, catching my parents in a contradiction was my greatest joy. I somehow believed that if I could trick them into changing their stance on a specific thing, it would invalidate everything else they had to say. This is silly. And so is calling out the hypocrisy in this election from both sides. If you say something like “These protests would never happen if a republican lost!” or “Look at all these lies conservatives are sharing!” then stop it. Both sides show their anger when they are angry. Both sides share around lies and fail to fact check. Do you really think Buzzfeed is more reliable than YoungCons, or that Brietbart does more real journalism than The Daily Dot? This gets under my skin every time I see it because I love fact checking. And most things that are too insane to be true *SPOILER ALERT* are usually not true. Donald Trump never called Republicans stupid, a group of Hillary supporters didn’t drag someone out of their car and beat them.

But here is what I think about the biggest point of contention in this post-election fever (at least on my timeline): the protests. A protest is a call to arms and a call to awareness. It shows the presence and power of a community. It does not necessarily promote change, but I believe few things change without a show of representation. I’ve heard a lot of my friends say that, despite current political climate, those who protest are overreacting. I’ve been asked to throw in my opinion because of my status as a member of the LGBTQ community. But listen here: Despite not being cisgender or heterosexual, I am still a white, American-born man. My driver’s license says male. My beard says male. I am perceived within the binary. I am not the person who is about to be most affected by this presidency.

My friends who may suffer under Trump and Pence are immigrants, POC, non-binary or non-passing trans*folk, LGBTQ couples with or without children, and anyone else who feels unprotected and unsafe in the USA. I’m not talking about safe-space stuff. I’m not talking about feelings. I’m talking about people who risk physical harm, the loss of their families, severe degradation of mental health, and an absence of basic human rights. As many posts as I see about these fears, I’m not even sure I can empathize. I have never been that afraid before. The stakes have never been that high for me. So if one of these people tells me they are afraid, then something is worth being afraid of. If they tell me they are angry, it’s because there is something worth being angry about. There’s a way to listen to them and understand without infringing on their narrative. Please listen to them.

Finally, let’s hit quickly (haha, as if) on the supporters in both camps. Now, for most of my Facebook friends, it’s probably impossible to see how anyone could support Trump. But I’ve met with Trump supporters. Albeit, before the election, way back when Trump’s whole campaign was just a racist joke and not a possible run for the White House, but I have spoken with them. Generally, they live in a conservative world. Their Facebook feed doesn’t have stories about Islamophobia or the rate of LGBTQ suicides. They know these things exist, sure. But they have no idea how bad it is. They’re often single issue voters: Pro-life, pro-guns, pro-religion–these are often all the supporters see in a candidate. The other things just do not get through to them. Their news channels never accused Trump of racism or misogyny. Maybe it’s so normalized for them that they’d never see it on their own. Educate them. Not angrily. But with compassion. Maybe you’re sick of it, but they will literally never learn unless someone does it.

Now, Hillary supporters: Don’t calm down. Don’t chill out. Accept that this election has happened, but don’t stop showing your opposition to it. Don’t try to impeach Trump because what an absolute nightmare Pence would be, but write to Congress. Organize more marches. Abolish the Electoral College. Speak angrily and passionately and know that the people who can’t hear you are the ones who need to the most. Know that the young generation is overwhelmingly behind you. Run for political office. Take control. Reach out. But, please don’t hope Trump will fail so you can seem superior. Please know that if he fails, it won’t make the republican party look bad. It will just run the country into the ground.

I have a lot more to say. This is not the last post you will see from me. But I have to take another few weeks to think about it.

TL;DR: Everyone’s a hypocrite. Check your facts. Listen to the people who are hurting. Support those who ask for support. Educate those who ask for nothing. Stay safe  <3


*TL;DR = Too Long; Didn’t Read

Byrgen Finkelman