Protect Women - Blog Posts

Hello,

My name is CJ and I’m a trans man. I grew up in a small town in North Carolina and I still live there today. My dad is a Chilean immigrant and he came to this country when he was only 8, spending most of his life in the beautiful land of Puerto Rico. My mom grew up in Florida (where I was born) and has mainly Irish ancestry. I have two older brothers, both in college. One attends Juilliard, the other UNCC. Most of my friends are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. I also have friends who are children of immigrants, just like me.

When I was born, it was induced by medication and I was born 8 weeks early due to a disease my mom had contracted while pregnant with me. We both survived thanks to the doctors and nurses who helped my mom deliver me safely. Due to my premature birth, I have struggled my whole life with chronic illness and disability.

I am telling you all of this because I am scared. Tomorrow is November 5th, Election Day, and depending on who wins I may be in serious danger.

Please, for the sake of me, my friends, my family, the trans community, the chronically ill, the disabled community, immigrants, immigrant families, women who need access to healthcare, and EVERY. SINGLE. American citizen…

💙VOTE BLUE💙

I don’t want my rights to be taken from me.

The last couple days have been, rough to say the least. For me and many others across the nation.

As an American I would lying if I said I wasn't slightly terrified right now. I just watched the president of my country get up on national tv and declare that I do not exist ("male and female are the only recognized genders") and his side hoe do a full on nazi salute, among other horrendous and hate-fueled statements.

Im lucky enough to live in Washington state, where the governor has openly stated he will fight to defend my rights as a queer person and someone capable of becoming pregnant. But there isn't much that can be done about civilian actions. I think there's a bit of a misconception about Washington throughout a lot of the nation, that most of the people living there are progressive and blue, but that isn't entirely the case. Outside of Seattle and surrounding cities like Tacoma or Olympia there's a lot of rural or partially rural towns that predominantly lean Republican. If it wasn't for Seattle, Washington would likely be a red state. Not to dox myself, but I do not live in Seattle or particularly close to it. There are queer resource and nonprofit organizations where I live, as well as for other marginalized groups, but they've had a history of being vandalized or attacked and I fear that's only going to get worse in the coming weeks/months/years.

I am a pretty visibly queer person, from the way I dress, my hair, my body language. Ive never been very good at blending in even when I wanted to. If someone was looking for a queer individual to target I wouldn't be the worst option out there. I am not going back into the closet, I refuse to hide or suppress myself, trying to in the past has never worked and has only made me horribly unhappy. I am a lesbian, I am transgender, I have a uterus, I am alterhuman, and I am proud. I am going to continue baring my teeth, continue seeking gender affirming care, continue being part of my community. But it isn't going to be without fear. There's been a lot of writing on the walls lately that I don't like the look of and it's scary to think of what may happen going forward.

But I do know how important it is that we find ways to stick together now more than ever. America is speeding down the road to fascism. Do not let anyone convince you otherwise, because we are, and have been for a while. We desperately need to have each other's backs. Stay aware of what's going on, if you don't consider yourself to be political, GET FUCKING POLITICAL. Get involved in irl community as much as possible, make connections and find out how you can help others, mutual aid is based as fuck and something you should be participating in asap. Learn how to keep yourself safe, 2nd amendment applies to us too, if guns aren't your style there are plenty of other forms of self defense to choose from. To anyone who's outside of the U.S, help spread news you come across, whether it's about protests or laws being passed, and if you're able to be there to offer comfort to any of your American friends who are scared right now. We see you guys and appreciate you, as censorship here intensifies you're going to be an important lifeline for us.

To anyone who's feeling alone and hopeless, who's stuck in red states, living with unaccepting families, financially vulnerable, immigrants, and anyone else who is scared right now, you are seen and you are not forgotten about. Stay alive at all costs, fight like hell, do not let them erase you.

I’m dead fucking serious. Our lives literally depend on it. We have no time to wonder if we should fight back or not. Because we absolutely should!

A message to everyone who is against Trump in the U.S,; don't give up.

I understand that statement may seem cliche and useless to many people. But everyone needs to understand the significance it holds.

I am heartbroken about the election results in the United States. But I will not stress how important it is to stay strong, and not give up on our democracy. I won't tell you it's not terrifying.

But we can't stop fighting for the rights of ourselves and others. No matter how hopeless it may seem at the moment, we must work together to maintain democracy in America.

If you feel like it's not worth it to keep trying, think of the genocide against the Palestinians, which will only reach new extremes under Trump's presidency (he has said he wants Netanyahu to be even more aggressive and tough on Palestine than he already is being—sit with that for a moment.) the transgender people who won't receive the affirming care they deserve, the people of color who now have nearly no protections against racism and police brutality, the children who won't have access to the education they need, who won't be protected against rapists and gun violence, the people who will not be able to get abortions no matter how dire their situations are, the legal and illegal immigrants who will be deported, the Ukrainians who will now longer have protection from America against the Russian invasion in their country. And there is so much more, so much more that we won't even see coming.

However, we can still do things to make a difference. Go to protests, educate yourself and others, donate to Palestinians/charities that help Palestinians and other people in need, volunteer at organizations that help women travel to different states to have legal safe abortions, flood your congressmen, representatives, mayors, governors, anyone in our government, with letters and complaints.

Use your voice! Remember, you have free speech no matter how much you are made to feel like you don't.

Now is not the time to worry about hurting anyone's feelings or being annoying. Be a bother. Force everyone who is using their power to ignore you and your rights to notice you.

Don't be scared to aggressive as you fight against the fascism that threatens our country. We cannot and will not allow this nation to slip further into hate, homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, white supremacy, xenophobia, misogyny, and anti immigrant ideology any more than it already has.

We cannot afford to be selfish or weak. Even if your state has voted to add protections for women and trans people in their state constitutions, doesn't mean you're safe. Do you think Trump won't do everything he can do outlaw these rights everywhere eventually? Fight and keep fighting. For everyone.

This may seem dramatic to some. I've heard the argument "Trump won't follow through. He's not being serious. He won't actually try to become a dictator", several times. Wake up! He has presented these intentions time and time again. Take his words at face value. He will strip people of their rights, especially if we actively chose to ignore his clearly communicated intentions. Do not think he won't do everything in his power to pass Project 2025 and other hateful, controlling, unconstitutional policies.

Believe it. But also believe in hope. It's easy to feel alone during this time. Remember, however, that there are millions of people behind you, and we can keep it that way if we remind ourselves and each other that we are fighting together and we will not give in.

No matter what, do not give up on our country and every single citizen that still needs our protection and support.

"you cant catch me now / im higher than the hopes that you brought down... / theres blood on the side of the mountain / its turning a new shade of red / yeah, sometimes the fire you founded / dont burn the way youd expect / yeah, you thought that this was the end"

please everyone

do not lose hope because the second we do, we allow mr trump to usurp power and diminish our democracy. i implore anyone who is or cares about someone who isnt white, male, straight, cisgender, christian, and wealthy to let their voices be heard. im not saying that we will have a repeat of the holocaust, but many things trump or his administration had said is eerily parallel to the words of hitler. our voices are so incredibly important in a political climate such as this one and i beg all of you

get angry

get upset

become inspired

recognize that we are inevitably going to experience extreme hardships

fight back.

we must unite as one nation under god because divide will be the end of the great american experiment. i love you all so much, and per usual, this is a safe space.

it wont be today, and it wont be tomorrow, but we, the people, will win.