Happy Thanksgiving, Trump Supporters

Happy Thanksgiving, Trump supporters. I hope you’re sitting down to a nice meal or nursing your food comas, talking about how thankful you are for your inherent privilege that you aren’t related to one of the many Native Americans that were killed in the mass genocide that was the founding of America.

I’m not home for this holiday, or any for that matter, as I currently reside in South Korea. This means that during this most awkward of post-election family holidays I have no need to pretend to be Switzerland.

And why do we pretend to be Switzerland? To be respectful of each other’s ideas? That’s hilarious to me, because what I learned on election day is all about respect, and how I have none.

What I learned on election day was that my friends of color, be them black, Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, Native American, or anything else, don’t matter. They don’t have your respect. You had the choice between someone who has said some derogatory things towards people of color and has taken money from the people building the Dakota Access Pipeline (a huge travesty for Native Americans), and someone who openly promotes deportation and the halting of immigration based on religion, glorifies the “good ol’ days” when segregation was still legal, and has actually been endorsed by the former and current leader of the KKK – you had a choice between someone who would lock their doors if they saw a black person on their lawn and someone who would shoot at them – and you picked the wrong one. You couldn’t just settle for a little racist, huh? Because there is no respect for my fellow Americans who don’t have white skin like me.

What I learned on election day was that my LGBT+ friends don’t matter. They don’t have your respect. You had the choice between a candidacy duo that both support marriage equality and a candidacy duo that do not. Not only do they no support marriage equality, but one of those men you elected openly supports electric shock therapy and conversion camps for LGBT+ youth. You picked the wrong choice. Because there is no respect for my fellow Americans who feel differently than you about love and their bodies.

What I learned on election day was that I don’t matter. You had the choice between a candidate with decades of experience in law and politics on state and national levels and a candidate with decades of experience in real estate and reality television, and you picked the second one. She sat through every debate with poise while he spread lies, interrupted her, made faces, and went back on his own word. You showed me that I can spend my entire life working towards something, being better than many people at what I do, and it won’t matter because an uneducated white man will always be better than me.

What I learned on election day was that I don’t matter. You had the choice between a woman who has stood up for women and children with her career, and a man who has been accused of sexual assault and rape, and who has been on tape not only saying it’s okay for him to grab my vagina without consent, but then justifying himself about it, and you chose him. You showed little boys and girls everywhere that it’s okay for the man that leads our country to sexually assault women.

You showed little boys and girls everywhere that it’s okay to sexually assault women.

What I learned on election day is that my brain AND my body will never have your respect.

What I learned on election day is that electing a racist, sexist white man is considered “sticking it to the establishment.” What I learned is that many of you don’t understand that racist, sexist white men ARE the establishment.

This is not about partisanship. Had a real Republican politician won, I wouldn’t be so angry. This is not a politician. This is a buffoon that serves as an amplifier for your angry white male voices.

And why are you angry? Do we scare you, my friends and I? Do you feel threatened by our pursuit of education and justice? We are not proposing genocide with our protests, we are not bragging sexual assault with our movements, we are fighting for equality. We are fighting for a world in which we do not have to be told on election days that we don’t matter. We are fighting for your respect. You’ve shown us it hasn’t worked.

So no, I won’t be Switzerland this Thanksgiving: Fuck Trump, and fuck you for supporting him.