Sarah Young Hodges

Your Turn

At around 5:30 p.m. Friday, I was shot while I was in child’s pose in my favorite yoga studio in my favorite city.

I was shot by a man who was angry he had been denied access to women’s bodies. This was a man with a history of grabbing women without their consent. This was a man who posted about his right to women’s bodies in online forums. This was a man who celebrated another like-minded man who shot up a sorority house which, much like a yoga studio, was a haven for women.

We have an election today. We have an opportunity to vote to show that women are not merely bodies men should have access to at will.

Women are human beings. We are mothers, professionals, wives, caretakers, friends, sisters, aunts, cousins and members of our communities. One man ensured that Tallahassee lost two outstanding members of their community.

Today, you have the opportunity to elect both men and women who honor women in all the roles they inhabit and who will not seek to limit the potential of women.

I am the daughter of a Marine Corps veteran and a devoted mother. I am a sister, a wife, an aunt, a friend, a mother, a lawyer, a yoga student, a Florida Gator, and a lover of old and grumpy dogs. I am not just a body. Vote.

Sarah Hodges is a former Tallahassee resident, who was among those shot in the yoga studio on Friday in Tallahassee. She is recovering and will be released soon from the hospital.