Don't Tell Me To Respect Your Opinion

There is a large group of people, it seems, who are of the camp who believe that those who are disappointed and disgusted by the results of this election need to “just get over it.”

“You lost. It’s done.”

“Stop bitching.”

“Hillary supporters are saying worse things about Trump supporters than Trump ever said about anyone.”

THIS. This is ignorance. This is my biggest frustration over the course of the last few days.

How dare you tell me to not be upset? I am upset because I am afraid. I am afraid for myself as a woman, I am afraid for my loved ones who are of other minority groups, and I am afraid for the zeitgeist of this country. In the last two days, I have already seen and heard so many things that have justified my fear. Men are tweeting things like “As soon as Trump hits 270 electoral votes I’m grabbing the first girl I see by the p*ssy. #MAGA,” and “If Trump win… I’m grabbing all you hoes by the p*ssy until he’s out of office.” People have been caught saying “I want Trump to win so we can do whatever we want to women.” A girl on my campus got called a n*gger to her face yesterday. One of my classmates told me he voted for Trump because he wanted to keep Bill Clinton out of the White House again. Muslim women across the country are having their hijabs forcefully pulled off of their heads, called terrorists and told to go back to their country before OUR PRESIDENT bombs them. Because OUR PRESIDENT has justified, supported, and promoted all of the terrifying things that I just mentioned. The person who represents us as the “land of the free and the home of the brave” has compromised the safety and freedom of the majority of our residents.

I will not back down and I will not apologize for not being okay with that.

That being said, I will also not say that I “hate” everyone who voted for Trump. It’s not even just about that. It is about every person who didn’t vote, who voted for a third party KNOWING that their chosen candidate had zero chance of winning the election. It’s about every person who voted based upon one issue and one issue only, or who determined that an email scandal was more important than the protection of basic rights. It’s not hate that I’m feeling, it’s disappointment. It’s disrespect. It’s sadness. There are men who decided that protecting the Second Amendment was more important than protecting their daughters’ womanhood and safety. There are people who decided that building walls and shutting down immigration for those who truly need to escape their countries is more important than protecting the rights of the immigrants and other minorities who already live in this country. There are women who voted against their own rights and own best interests because they didn’t want Hillary to become the first woman president.

I won’t ever justify ignorance by attempting to understand it. I will not sit here and make excuses for why someone I used to respect voted the way that they did. Many people are of the opinion that they will not look at someone any differently after this election because of who he or she voted for. I am sorry, but that is not the way that I feel.

Because in the next four years, if-and-when the Trump organization overturns the right for LGBT individuals to marry, I will have to watch people that I love suffer. If-and-when the Trump organization defunds Planned Parenthood, there will be people that I love who will suffer. If-and-when the Trump organization makes it easier to access firearms, people I love COULD DIE.

If myself or someone I love is sexually assaulted because the President of the United States has gotten away with it for years and years and has made it seem as if it is okay, it will be your fault.

Everyone who put him in office, who told the public, who told their children, who told their peers, that it is acceptable to speak and act the way that he does and still obtain the highest office in our country – it will be your fault for all of these things.

I do not hate Trump supporters. I am afraid of your mindset. I am afraid of your potential actions. I am afraid of this next four years.

And still, #ImWithHer.