The election is over, and the outcome is that Donald Trump and Mike Pence are President and VP. It’s as if Lucifer and Mephistopheles have risen from hell and are now in The White House. In this dark time, it looks as if the country will go back 50 years into a place of utter darkness, and those I care about such as my LGBTQ friends are in danger of becoming second class citizens in a country where they work and pay taxes. Women like myself are afraid of the war on our bodies, our reproductive rights in questioned as Roe v Wade could be overturned. Families will be ripped apart. A Trump presidency is a danger, that is, unless you are white and male.
While the prospects seem grim, my belief is that Hillary Rodham Clinton really emerged the winner. Maybe won the popular vote but not the electoral college, but she won for all of us who supported her in lots of ways we can’t even count in this time of grief.
For starters, she was a woman who was a nominee on a main party ticket. While Dr. Jill Stein ran for the Green Party, Third Party Candidates split the vote and are never elected. Mrs. Clinton ran as a Democrat, and garnered a lot of respect. While the sexism that has made itself apparent in this election might be part of the reason she wasn’t elected, she showed young women that a woman could be a nominee of a major party ticket. That while it has not happened yet, someday sooner than later, there will be a woman in The White House. Not only will she get the most coveted office in the land, but she can be leader of the free world. As women, Mrs. Clinton has not only showed us that we can achieve what we want to regardless of gender, but our goals and dreams do matter.
Secondly, for the first time in a long time, because of Donald Trump’s rhetoric, we had the much needed dialogue about domestic violence and assault. The reason we were able to do this is because Hillary Clinton would not let his words and actions fade, but rather made him answer for them. She knew the war against women is real not just in the courtroom and in medicine, but in society as well. Rapists and other abusers often have more rights than their victims in a court of law. Many women are afraid to report abuse because of the legal red tape and victim blaming on behalf of male law makers. As someone who had a physically abusive partner, I know this for a fact. During the relationship and afterwards I kept silent. As we talked about how Mr. Trump spoke to women and treated them, many of us who had been assaulted in a myriad of ways opened up. Not only did it create a conversation that had to be had, but it helped a lot of us heal knowing we weren’t alone. Maybe, just maybe, many lawmakers, male and female, will start to listen so things can change. Perhaps they too will join the fight for women, the one that HRC has been taking on as her cause for the better part of 30 years in public service.
Mrs. Clinton, while First Lady, said, “Human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.” She has been encouraging the much needed talk about not just reproductive rights in the US, but around the globe. HRC has fought for Planned Parenthood, and has encouraged feminists like myself to educate people that Planned Parenthood does not just perform abortions but other services for women. We all deserve access to proper treatment, and to have the government out of our womb. Many of us, community organizers, activists, and bloggers, have canvassed and marched, because we believe in continuing the tradition not just of feminism but female leaders like herself.
HRC has been on campaigns since George McGovern, and her long history of battling against bigotry in all forms inspired a whole new generation of political activists and community organizers such as STAT (Stand Together Against Trump), a group who marched against our now president elect in Cleveland. I was proud to be there with my puppet partner in crime Donald J. Tramp. Together, many of us from different ages and backgrounds banded together to make a statement against sexism, racism, xenophobia, and homophobia. This message of peace is one HRC has preached her entire career of public service.
Donald J. Trump and Mike Pence might have won the battle called the 2016 Election, but they did not win the war. Sure, Hillary Clinton might not be president elect at the present moment, but what many do not realize is she created an army of socially conscious, forward thinking men and women of all background, colors, and sexual/gender orientations. The delporables like to tell us “whiny liberals” that “democracy is not a safe space.”
Yes, you are correct, it is not a safe space. We are people who intend to fight oppression and the patriarchy that oppresses anyone who is not white and male one blog post, one video, and one protest at a time. We are activists, community leaders, artists, writers, and lawyers. We will not only continue to fight for equality, but we will continue to fight for our rights. Those of us, especially young women like myself, know the White House is not just a dream but will someday be a reality. Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence better not get too comfortable in their House of Horrors, because unfortunately for them those like myself will continue to be vocal and unafraid.
And those like myself are not going away softly, gently into this goodnight anytime soon.
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