I remember the exact moments that I came to the conclusion that Donald J. Trump was an evil and disgusting man who was entirely unfit to lead this country.

The first was in 2015 while he was on the campaign trail and he openly mocked a reporter with a joint disorder at a rally. His supporters laughed along with him and I was disgusted and hurt. How could this man openly mock someone with a disability when 1 in 4 Americans live with some type of disability? These "jokes" made by the presidential candidate were especially hurtful to men because I have lived with a disability for most of my life and I have friends and family that I love dearly who are disabled.

The second moment is when Donald Trump's "Access Hollywood" tape was leaked in late 2016. You know, the one where he makes disgusting comments such as "It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything" and "Grab 'em by the pussy".

The moment I found out Donald Trump won the presidential election is still etched into my memory. I remember my heart sunk into the pit of my stomach while my brain was running a million miles a minute going over the possible worst-case scenarios of the next four years. This man could not care less about his supporters or this country and yet many remained oblivious to this. But I think what hurt me the most is the fact that I had friends and family who openly and proudly supported and voted for Donald Trump.

I do personally identify as a leftist but I do have some very good friends who would identify themselves as a conservative. I am a firm believer in always challenging your own beliefs and not surrounding yourself with an echo-chamber of similar views so I enjoy engaging in peaceful and friendly debates and conversations about politics with my more conservative friends. One of my closest friends from high school leans more to the right but we are able to have respectful and friendly conversations about our beliefs. Through these respectful conversations, I have helped her re-evaluate her anti-choice views to become more pro-choice and she helped me re-evaluate my feelings about guns.

However, I have other friends and family members who are not quite as respectful and I have started cutting these people out of my life because I've had my fill of them. I would never cut someone out of my life over merely a difference of opinion. But this is no longer just about having a different opinion.

Before blocking one of my uncles who openly supports Trump he responded to me on Facebook by saying "so much for the tolerant left". I couldn't help but remember the time that the same uncle decided to casually tell my father and me not to invite him to my older brother's wedding if he ever decided to marry his boyfriend because he believes that same-sex marriage. Little did he know that at that time I was struggling to come to terms with my own sexuality and also have many friends who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community and that the comment he made to me in passing hurt me and has stuck with me all these years later. My uncle's "different opinions" meant that he hated or disliked something that was and continues to be a huge part of my identity. How am I supposed to keep someone in my life knowing that? You can go on and on all about how you "hate the sin and love the sinner" or how "marriage should be between a man and a woman" but that doesn't make your "opinion" any less hurtful because you are entirely disregarding or saying you "hate" a large part of someone's identity. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be around someone who belittles and invalidates you, so why should I put up with it?

I don't care what you think your beliefs are. You cannot use your opinions to disregard someone's existence or identity and expect them to be okay with it. For example, I identify as an atheist and I have many friends who are religious. Even though I don't believe in a god or organized religion, I am always careful not to say something disrespectful about religion around my religious friends because I understand that it is important to them and a large part of their identity. I understand that by belittling their religious beliefs I would be hurting them. I've even gone as far as attending a church service with an open mind with my religious friends because I understood that it was something that was important to them and it meant a lot that they wanted to share it with me.

I love my friends and family. I really truly do. But I've reached my breaking point and I can no longer tolerate it. I never supported Donald Trump for a second and I don't understand how after almost four years of dealing with his complete incompetence and utter stupidity that one can still proudly say they support him. Our country is nearly six months into a global pandemic and our "leader's" incompetence and denial have caused over 159,128 needless deaths. While Trump did not cause the virus he did something even worse. He ignored it, denied it, minimized it, joked about it, politicized it, weaponized it, politicized it, and exacerbated it.

I don't understand how anyone could proudly support Donald Trump. I've tried to understand it and I've found no reason to support him. I will be doing everything in my power to vote him out. That includes cutting those who vote for him out of my life. If you vote for Donald J. Trump you are voting against me. I stand against nearly everything that man stands for. If your conscience allows you to vote for Trump after everything he's done and said over the years (don't forget about the time he said he'd date Ivanka... Gross) then I do not want to associate with you. I have had enough and I'm no longer tolerating intolerance among my friends and family.