I watched the election last night just as everyone else did: with fear, anger, despair, and an ever-growing voice in my head that kept reminding me that America doesn’t care about me. I am 19 years old, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and this is the first presidential election that I was able to vote in. As a political science major, I was so excited to finally exercise my right to vote, but I didn’t want it to be like this. Never like this.
All over Twitter, and all around me, people keep saying that I am overreacting, that it’s just fear-mongering, that he won’t take any of my rights away.
“Everything will be fine,” they say, “He’s not going to actually do anything.”
But how can they afford to think like that? How can they dismiss the thousands of Americans who are fearing for their life and their rights?
My fear and other’s fear didn’t just spring out of thin air, my fear comes directly from the things our next President and Vice President have said and done in their careers.
Trump himself said on Fox News Sunday back in January of this year that he would try to reverse same-sex marriage, saying “It has been ruled upon. It has been there. If I’m elected I would be very strong in putting certain judges on the bench that maybe could change things, but they have a long way to go.” One of the most terrifying things about his statement is that there could possibly be a huge lack of opposition to him proposing an overturn on same-sex marriage, as Republicans have the majority in both the House and the Senate, something that hasn’t happened since 2005. They now have complete control over the executive and legislative branches. While it’s highly doubtful that he would actually be able to overturn same-sex marriage, he could definitely make the process astronomically harder for all LGBTQ+ Americans. Right now in California, it costs ten dollars to register a domestic partnership for you and your partner, but if you are same-sex partners, the fee is thirty-three dollars. In the next few years, we could see separate fees arise for same-sex marriages—fees that could make marriage licenses unaffordable for same-sex couples. He might not reverse same-sex marriage, but he could certainly make the entire process incredibly more difficult.
He also plans to roll back the federal government’s assertions to schools that trans kids should be able to use the bathroom they feel most comfortable with. Pence confirmed this in an interview with James Dobson in October, saying that, “Washington has no business intruding on the operation of our local schools. I can tell you, it’s just one more example of the heavy hand and liberal agenda of this administration…and Donald Trump and I will stand by that common-sense principle…that when it comes to our kids, and the operation of our schools, those decisions should be made and can be made at the local level.”
Furthermore, Donald Trump has declined to state his stance on some other LGBTQ+ rights, such as he did when he declined to support the Equality Act, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity at the federal level. He also fully supports the First Amendment Defense Act, which “prohibits the federal government from taking discriminatory action against a person on the basis that such person believes or acts in accordance with a religious belief or moral conviction.” The FADA would be incredibly damaging to the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals.
Things become even more dire for transgender individuals, as Trump has stated that he supports the extremely toxic HB2, which among other things, makes trans individuals use the bathroom that corresponds with the sex they were assigned on their birth certificate. The lack of support for the Equality Act will also, of course, affect trans people as the act covers gender identity as well as sexual orientation. This lack of support from Trump and Pence will not bring justice to Monica Loera, Demarkis Stansberry, and the dozens of trans individuals of color that have been murdered just in the past year.
Mike Pence, our new Vice President, has an even worse track record with LGBTQ+ rights than Trump. He was the one who actually signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, an Act that essentially allows individuals to get away with discriminating against members of the LGBTQ+ community as long as they are acting because of their religious beliefs. It legitimizes religious beliefs as an actual defense against discrimination, and Pence signed it while surrounded by anti-LGBT extremists. In fact, Pence has opposed any and all LGBTQ+ rights since the 1990s, and his campaign website from his 2000 run for Congress shows his blatant opposition to all LGBTQ+ rights. The campaign website displays policies such as his support for conversion therapy, “Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior”, and his opposition of labelling LGBTQ+ individuals as minorities, “Congress should oppose any effort to recognize homsoexual’s as a ‘discreet and insular minority’ entitled to the protection of anti-discrimination laws similar to those extended to women and ethnic minorities.” The campaign website states his opposition of marriage equality, stating that “Congress should oppose any effort to put gay and lesbian relationships on an equal legal status with heterosexual marriage.”
He also pledges to put an end to “don’t ask/don’t tell” (which at the time, was still in effect), stating that “Homosexuality is incompatible with military service because the presence of homosexuals in the ranks weakens unit cohesion.”
Though our soon to be President and Vice President have terrible track records when it comes to LGBTQ+ equality, this doesn’t even begin to cover the hate they have directed at people of color, people with disabilities, Muslims, Jews, women and every other minority in the country.
Their entire campaign was built on a foundation of xenophobia, racism, Islamophobia, transphobia, homophobia, sexism, and ableism, and it can not continue.
I am hurt, I am devastated, I am angry, but I am here to fight for my rights, for your rights, and for the rights of every marginalized group in America that will be affected by Trump’s hateful presidency.
