I truly don't know where to begin.

Last night, Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States by the Electoral College.

I will be honest with you all: I am frightened. A huge part of my fear is currently because I don't know what the future holds, but most of my fear is not for me; most of my fear is for my friends. My friends who are part of the LGBT+ community, my friends who are part of the Latino community, my friends who are part of the Muslim community, my friends and family who are members of the disabled community, and for so many more people who came to America because they believed that America is the land of opportunity and that we are a melting pot of people.

I fear now that once Trump's term begins, this country will no longer be the land of opportunity, and we will no longer be a melting pot.

To Donald Trump's supporters: I'm sorry.

I'm sorry that the news surrounding your candidate for the entirety of the race to the White House has been negative. I'm sorry that he faced unprecedented criticism, and I'm sorry that you faced criticism for your choice.

Who you vote for is your choice and I will respect that. I won't necessarily agree with you, but I'll respect your decision.

I'm sorry that the political discourse between parties basically disintegrated and we weren't kind to each other, because everyone deserves kindness.

That being said, I want to say I'm sorry to you as well.

I'm sorry that you felt threatened by people who worship differently than you do. Diversity is a virtue and value in this country, yet we criticize people who believe differently. Just because you don't understand someone else's religious choices doesn't give you the right to criticize and threaten them for it. They respect your religion, so shouldn't they be provided with the same courtesy?

I'm sorry that you felt threatened by those who wanted to the use a bathroom of the gender they identify with. They respect themselves and only want to feel like their best selves. As a society, we talk about this all the time about how we should feel empowered and want to be our best selves, yet when some people want to do just that, they are criticized, chastised, and bullied for their way of expressing their pride in who they are. When you express pride in who you are, do you fear that someone will harm you? No? Then why would you want that for someone else?

I'm sorry that you feel as though all of the jobs available are being taken by immigrants. In reality, many of the jobs that immigrants take are jobs that no one else wants, such as cleaning jobs, babysitting, food service, etc. These are also jobs that many have considered to be for lazy teenagers or those who don't have the same educational opportunities. While that may be true for some, many immigrants work two and three jobs to be able to afford to live in this country and provide for their family, while many of you can live relatively comfortably on what you make as an accountant or a bank manager.

I'm sorry that an election has come between so many of us, and has torn the fabric of our country apart. I'm sorry that this article seems critical of you, and I'll admit that it is a bit critical, but I am just expressing my opinions, as you would have the right to do as well, and I'm sure you could say many things about how I behaved during the election, but these issues that I've identified are fundamental issues that will soon become front-page news in our country. Are you willing to say you stood there and just let people be harmed or mocked or beaten because you don't agree with them? Is that really what America has come to? If so, that's not an America I want to be a part of, and I will not stand by and watch people, all of whom have significant value to this world, this country, and to our culture, be made to feel unsafe and unloved all because you can't respect differences in values and opinions.

I hope that one day we can see eye to eye again as a nation, but right now, we are feeling the raw effects of events out of our control.

I'm happy that you got the candidate you wanted in office, but I'm not quite there yet.

I hope that we can all respect each other now that this is over, and start anew. I hope we can continue to make progress to make this country a safe place for people of all religions, physical, physiological, and emotional backgrounds, genders, sexualities, and not continue to breed the hate that this election stirred up.

I apologize for any hurtful remarks I made during this election, and I apologize if you feel offended by what I've said here, but I'm entitled to my opinion, and you are entitled to yours.

With love, regret, and hopes for a brighter future,

A girl with a bleeding heart