When I woke up on November 9, 2016, I learned that Donald Trump had won by the use of the Electoral College. I had been in denial the entire time he was running, and I never thought he’d win because I thought people would stop supporting him because of the things he had said about women and minorities. I thought that after mocking the disabled that people would stop following him. I thought it would stop overall, but until that moment, I didn’t acknowledge that it could be real.
I was terrified then, and I still am. I woke up realizing that people were going to die. I live on a college campus, and I was afraid that I was going to be sexually assaulted again. I just came to terms with this happening, and it was the worst I have ever felt on this earth, especially about myself. I don’t want to think that I’ll have to relive that because I could barely do it the first time around. I couldn’t eat, sleep or breathe. I felt like the world was going to collapse around me. Being a part of the LGBT community and a woman, I started to realize that I wasn’t as safe as I thought I was, even on a liberal college campus. There was nothing that could save me. I was scared for my own safety and the safety of everyone I know and love, and I wouldn’t wish that fear on anyone.
This sense of shock has worn off, and I accept Trump being the president. However, I refuse to normalize sexual assault or mocking the disabled. I refuse to be stripped of my rights without a major fight. Above all, I refuse to believe that I cannot make a difference in this fight. I yell in my protests, make my signs, stand with my friends on the street in the cold. I hold him responsible for his actions while hoping that he doesn’t fail. The biggest difference now is that I have realized I have more support than I could ever imagine and that I don’t have to go through it alone.
On January 20, 2017, a rally took place in Athens, Ohio, on the steps of the courthouse to protest Trump’s inauguration. People spoke out in the streets, including the leaders of student organizations like Feminist Equality Movement and Multicultural Activists Coalition, and they shared their experiences as well as advice about this upsetting matter. We marched the streets and exercised our right to a peaceful protest, and we proved that we are stronger together and that we demand to be heard.
This is not the only protest like this. On January 21, there was a Woman’s March on Washington and multiple protests resembling this one all over the nation and around the world. Millions of people banded together to prove their unity in the matter. The threat of rights being taken away is enough to make citizens come together in order to promote solidarity in the coming hard times. We the people are showing our unity in these times, but in showing our fear, we are also demonstrating our strength in what we believe in. We are showing that we do not believe that we have been heard and that no matter how Trump got elected, he does not represent us as a people.
We as a people now accept that this has happened and that he is in power, so this is what we do now. We speak up, we take care of ourselves, we share the information that we know with other people. We inform ourselves, get involved, protest peacefully with people who believe the same things we do to protect our lives. This is what we do now; we take care of each other and hope for the best.
