This expression really says it all

This may come as something of a shock, but the Trump Administration isn’t exactly a friend of the LGBTQ Community. </sarcasm>

I know there are going to be plenty of individuals who prefer their politics in 240 character or less snippets who aren’t going to read this, so here’s the tl;dr: By supporting the Trump Administration, you’re saying it’s OK to be a bully. More over, you’re friends with MY personal bully.

When I was a child, I had many friends. I was well liked. I got to be a part of the “cool crowd.” That all changed one morning in 6th grade when we were playing tackle football in the school yard before class. An 8th grader was charging down the field. He too was one of the socially “chosen.” He was also roughly twice my size, and thus was allowed to basically run up and down the field with little opposition. Being the uber-competitive person I am, I said enough is enough and laid him out. Unfortunately this individual was wearing brand new J’nco jeans. When I tackled him, the virgin denim was permanently stained and torn. In that moment, my social support was torn to pieces.

In the weeks that followed, the J’nco Victim proceeded to start bulling me at every opportunity. He made fun of me, physically threatened me, and swayed others from our social circle to his side. People that I had been friends with since I was 6 years old were suddenly my enemy in public. In private, these people were still friendly to me. Often inviting me to do things at their home, or in other settings where we wouldn’t be seen together. Publicly though, they had to save face unless they become social pariahs as well. I remember being so hurt and confused by all this. Why wasn’t I good enough to publicly like? Why would this person who supposedly cares for me actively engage in social interactions with the person who was working to make my life a living hell over a pair of jeans?

Today, I am strong enough to value myself over other’s social agendas. However, every time I see a person blindly re-post pro-Trump propaganda in my social media feeds, I am reminded of the feelings I had in 6th grade. I am very careful of the individuals that I friend/follow. To me, social media relationships are not Pokemon. I don’t need to catch them all. I tend to distance myself from the far right leaning ideas in these spaces as I feel them to be my safe space of sorts. I don’t shelter myself from opposing viewpoints. Quite the opposite. I just don’t want to see them when I’m checking out cute roller derby bout makeup ideas.

The Trump Administration has had one of the worst years on record as it pertains to negating the rights of LGBTQ individuals. As a transgender woman, when I read headlines such as “Trump Says Transgender Ban Is a ‘Great Favor’ for the Military;” “CDC banned words include ‘diversity’, ‘transgender’ and ‘fetus’;” and “Federal Civil Rights Law Doesn’t Protect Transgender Workers, Justice Department Says;” I am filled with both shock and fear. Have we really fallen so far as a society that our elected officials need to actively work to invalidate the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans? And have we gotten to the point where we can say we support LGBTQ individuals in one breath, but be OK with the ramblings of the individual seeking to trample their rights in the next?

To me, President Trump represents the playground bully. He is actively working to make the lives of others harder when all they want is to serve, live, and survive in this Nation of ours. The people that blindly follow represent the friends that I once had. They say they love and support me unless it’s socially.

Simply put, you cannot support a person who does some things that you agree with, but actively passes regulations against those you claim to support. It’s time to either be a friend/ally or a follower. The choice is yours.