I’ve seen a lot of people talking down to those of us who protested this year’s election and wondering why we’re even doing it at all, so I’m going to explain, one more time, why I was there and what I believe.
I didn’t leave my house except for two very necessary trips from Tuesday after I voted until Friday, when I went to Gretchen’s for the weekend. I stayed inside because I am an obviously lesbian woman in rural Henry county and I am afraid for my safety. I am afraid that the rhetoric issued from the president-elect will incite strangers to openly express their hate for me violently because it has been legitimized by their candidate. Gretchen and I even discussed eloping on Saturday to ensure that we are married (legally) before that right is taken from us.
One of the first reasons I went to the protest on Friday night was to stand up to my own fear and to the hate that is being expressed against me, my brothers and sisters of color, and my spiritual family, including Muslims and faiths that support the LGBTQ+ community. When Olympic Park reopened after it was bombed during the 1996 Olympic games by a right wing domestic terrorist, I went back on the first day that it was open as a way of saying, “I will not let you make me a prisoner to my fear.” Marching on Friday night was a way of doing that. There were times that we were terrified that night, because we didn’t know if we would be attacked by the police. We were not. I’m extremely proud of the restraint shown by both the police of Atlanta and by the protesters with regards to the lack of violence.
Secondly, I protested because I wanted to express to the people of the world that I am not OK with a president-elect who espouses hate. I am not OK with a president-elect who believes that it’s alright to mock a disabled man. I am not OK with a president-elect who wants to require all Muslims in this country to register with the State, much as the Jews had to in Nazi Germany. I am not OK with a president-elect who incites fear of otherness in his followers. I am not OK with a president-elect who promises to exclude human beings from our nation based on their race or nation of origin. I am not OK with a president-elect who has pledged to restrict women’s right of access to abortion and who wants to remove my right to marry. I am not OK with a president-elect who surrounds himself with advisers who express even more violently extreme right-wing rhetoric. And I was there to let the rest of America, Canada, Mexico, France, England, and the rest of the world know that he does not speak for me.
Third, I was there for the young people. I only saw 4 people, including Gretchen and myself, who looked to be over 40 years old Friday night. My generation has failed the young people in this country by failing to ensure that they have access to healthcare and education. We have failed them by failing to ensure that they have access to clean water, clean fuels, and clean air to breathe.
Fourth, I was there for a woman named Annette, who Gretchen and I met at the Waffle House at Five Points that night. Annette is my age and looks a decade older. She clearly needs some form of mental and physical help, yet she’s homeless and hungry on the street, still wearing her armband from Grady but not welcome to come inside and eat with us because she has no money and acts out. The privatization of healthcare and prisons in this country have insured that the Annettes of this country will never have a better life. The epidemic of greed in this country has led us to pharmaceutical companies that care more about treating diseases than curing them, hospitals that “treat ’em and street ’em” instead of addressing real health issues, and prisons that charge states more money if they have empty beds, leading to a system that creates a demand for criminals to be incarcerated rather than a system that rehabilitates inmates.
A small group of people burned two American flags Friday night. It is not something I would do, and I heard many people around me saying the same thing. Also, there have been reports that we tried to get onto the expressway. Again, I will tell you that the protesters that I walked with on Friday night had no intention of ever walking onto the interstate. Our goal was always to walk on the city streets to the Capitol. Period.
I was not there to “whine” because my candidate lost the election despite winning the popular vote. I was there to make sure no one believes that I am OK with this. It was my first step into greater involvement in my community and in my country. I will not go back into the closet and I will not sit down and shut up.
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