fascism

I just spent the last 2 hours submitting written testimony against 8 bills being introduced in the Maine legislature. What are the bills regarding? Oh, just more laws to take away trans rights.

There’s a group of Republicans in Maine who want to force schools to block trans athletes from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. Other bills want schools to force kids to use their names and genders that are listed on their birth certificates and others are trying to force schools to make students use bathrooms that align with the gender listed on their birth certificates.

And to top it all off, these Republicans want to remove gender identity from the list of protected characteristics under the Maine Human Rights Act. The MHRA is my state’s anti-discrimination law that prohibits discrimination based on protected characteristics like race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, disability, and others, in employment, housing, education, etc.

A month ago I wrote to my local senator and representative when I heard about the change the Republicans wanted to make with the MHRA. Both of my local people are Republicans. I wrote them both an email, explaining why I am asking them not to vote for this—we should never be taking away rights from anyone, particularly those that are already marginalized. And if they think this would solve the problem of Trump’s attack on Maine because he doesn’t think a trans high school athlete should be playing on a team that aligns with her gender identity, they are mistaken.

“Please do not align with this type of thinking. Please think about all of the people in your community. And please don’t tell me that you think this will solve the problems of Trump bearing down on our state. If you’ve never been bullied before, maybe you don’t recognize a bully. If you’ve never suffered domestic abuse or misogyny, maybe you don’t recognize that either. But I have faced all of these things, and I can tell you, that the bully in the White House will keep pushing until he gets everything he wants. And I don’t want him and you to take away rights from my family and friends because you think this issue is about transgender athletes. It’s most definitely not. It’s about exclusion. Period.”–from my email and testimony

Did they respond to the email I sent a month ago? Nope. So I made sure in my testimony against this bill, I called them out on it.

I’m angry. And I’m sick of my state’s legislature wasting their time on asinine bills like this instead of working on food insecurity and lack of housing in this state. How about helping folks with substance use or mental health challenges?

During my 8^th testimony, I started to lose it. I was starting to quote Mel Robbins. LET THEM, I wrote. Who cares if a kid wants to use a name that’s different from their birth certificate? For fuck’s sake, it DOESN’T MATTER! (I didn’t swear, but it might have been implied.)

I know I didn’t write the best testimony because my emotions got the best of me. I didn’t always relate it back to me and I ranted on a few of them and got snarky on most. I’m just so tired of these jackasses. The thing is, we know these bills have absolutely nothing to do with athletics or bathrooms. They’re all part of Trump’s agenda to eliminate anyone who disagrees with him and everyone who is not like him. His government has already eliminated trans history from federal government websites (like Stonewall), so now states across the country are introducing bills like these.

I am not a person that will ever run for office, but I am willing to make my voice heard on a variety of issues. Last month I submitted written testimony in support of “Virginia’s bill” that would not allow a person convicted of certain domestic violence acts to be able to participate in a community confinement monitoring program. Virginia was our family friend who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, a man who in prison for domestic violence and was a part of one of these programs.

As a young adult, I participated in AIDS and Alzheimer’s walks, the occasional protest and wrote letters to the editor. But in the past 5 months, I’ve supplied written testimony to bills I both supported and opposed, participated in 3 protests and marches, and made phone calls and wrote emails to my Senators and Representatives. If I have anything to be grateful for from this administration, it would be that their fascism got me more involved in political participation than ever before.

Friends, I know you’re busy. I know you’re tired and life can be absolute shit. But it’s time to stand up. It’s time to speak out NOW. Don’t wait until it’s too late and don’t wait for someone else to do it.

If you’re a Mainer and need more information about the bills being proposed, check out Equality Maine, especially their Facebook page. They have great guides on what the bills are and how to submit testimony. The bills will be discussed on Thursday, May 8^th, so you still have time.

Thanks for listening to my plea, all. I appreciate you.

I recently had a conversation with someone whom I know to be kind, intelligent and well-informed. They admitted they purposely have not read, watched or listened to any kind of news since before the November election. Their physical and mental health was tremendously better.

I was speechless. Then angry. Fucking dumbfounded.

Since then I’ve talked to friends asking what they thought about this. Hell, I even talked to my therapist about it. I understand wanting to save yourself, wanting to be ok. But in this case? I don’t think that’s enough of a reason to not wanting to know what’s happening.

Let’s say you have every privilege there is: your skin color, your gender, your sexual orientation, your financial status, your mobility, your education, your employment status. You got it all. But you don’t want to know what’s happening in the world, in our country that we currently live in? Because it’s going to make you angry or sad? Big fucking deal. Grow a pair of ovaries and step the fuck up.

Will you be one of those that stand by while trucks of your fellow countrymen are carted off to the camps? Will you be one of the people that helps load that truck? Or will you speak out before that can happen?

EDUCATE YOURSELF. Look, there is a shit ton of info out there and I have had to pare down what’s coming at me, too. There’s too much of it. I personally get most of my information from a few sources, first being Heather Cox Richardson. She blogs daily, Letters from an American. She’s a historian and originally from Maine. She tells you what’s happening in the political world and puts it into historical context. I read Robert Reich’s Substack posts because they often give tips on how to fight back but also throws in positive news, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Reich is a professor and former US Secretary of Labor under Clinton. I get the New York Times headlines and will read some of the articles. Lastly, I’ll watch a few minutes from CBS news, mostly to yell at the screen and tell them that the death of an actor or the winning of a sports team should NOT be the first headline in any news day when fascists are trying to ruin the country.

If you like, I am happy to give you a bulleted list each day of the bullshit that’s happening. Then maybe your ears won’t get full of fleas and spiders. If you stick your head too far down into the sand, things can get ugly.

Let’s start! Here’s a very brief list of some of the shit that’s happened in the last month.

Trump pardoned all the people involved during the January 6^th insurrection, including those that assaulted police officers.
All references to transgender folks have been removed from the Stonewall National Monument website. Someone forgot to tell Trump that you can’t spell history without the T.
Social Security and Medicaid are being raped & pillaged. Hope you weren’t counting on any of that. Oh, but, your neighbors already are.
Elon Musk is really running the show, along with a bunch of other rich dicks. He’s responsible for cutting a bunch of federal jobs. You might know someone who lost their job recently. No? Don’t worry. You will.
Congress isn’t doing their job. They are just as much to blame for this catastrophe as Trump and Musk. Feel free to call them (202-224-3121) or email your Congress people.
And then this. Watch it. It is tremendously upsetting. I sobbed and yelled and nearly vomited. Why? Well in case you don’t have the stomach to watch it, here’s what happened. At a Republican-hosted legislative town hall in Idaho, several people shouted “Women are dying” in response to a comment about Roe v Wade. The man at the podium called the people’s remarks “stupid” and called the people “crazy.” So others started yelling, “Is this a town hall or a lecture?” Teresa Borrenpohl was one of the women speaking out. She was dragged from the audience by men in plain clothing, who refused to say who they were. Meanwhile, the asshat at the podium is ridiculing her. AND MOST PEOPLE JUST WATCHED IT HAPPEN.

So…what do you think? Are you angry? Sad? Pissed at me because you feel I have no reason to be mad at you? You’re just one person trying to take care of yourself, trying to live a quiet, decent life, right? Trying to be a good person.

So were Edith & Otto Frank. Look how that turned out.

Here’s the thing: You don’t have to go out and protest if you don’t want to or if you are working too many hours or have other responsiblities that take up most of your time. Trust me. I do understand that.

Do one of these instead:

Send an email to (or call) your local and state Representatives and Senators. Tell them what you don’t like and what you wish they’d do.
Stop buying from companies that are giving money to Trump and his oligarchy and buy locally from businesses that you know support human rights.
Give money to organizations that are helping feed or house folks that can’t afford to.
Make a sign and put it in your house or car window. Let people know you support LGBTQ+ rights and that LGBTQ+ folks matter.
Or please, just educate yourself. I’m serious about sending you a daily email if you want me to.

We need you.

You’re better than an ostrich. I mean, ostriches are really cool and I’m a fan of long necks myself, but as a human? You’re better than that. So please, do better.

The future depends on it.