Broken. Terrified. Baffled. Devastated.

How can I convey

Everything I’m feeling inside

My rights. My future.

I can see it all crumbling

Blowing away like dust in the wind

As an orange man laughs

But it’s not funny

Why is empathy

So hard to comprehend?

Why is it so impossible

To take off your shoes

And step into mine

For just 5 minutes

The tears. The cries. The agony. The anguish.

You turn your back on all of it

Because it could never effect you

None of it matters to you

Until it does.

Until it’s your mom.

Your sister.

Your aunt.

Your cousin.

Your best friend.

And you realize

They have no rights

And you voted

To make sure they had none.

How long

Will you be able to look yourself in the mirror

And feel good about what you’ve done

The reality is

Plenty of people

Will not make it through this

I cannot even begin to tell you

How many people will suffer

Always taking from those with the most to lose

It disturbs me to know

That I live amongst so many people

That don’t believe I deserve my rights.

The right to control my own body.

The right to be allowed to vote.

The right to marry the gender that I want.

The right to marry the race that I want.

The right to be able to divorce if I want.

The right to decide if I want children or not.

Suddenly, I am not trusted with myself

Yet, I am the only person

Who has been with me

Every single moment of this life

Every single minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year

I am the only one

Who gets to decide my future

Because I know my past

Fuck anyone and everyone who believes otherwise.