Being queer in America feels as though my identity is always on the chopping block. Every American is aware of the incredibly high stakes of the upcoming election. The outcome of this will drastically affect every American, queer people especially so.
To me, it is very apparent that the goal of the Republican party is to completely wipe me, and those within my community, from the American consciousness. Their goal is to stifle our voices through the banning of books that tell our stories, the demonization of drag queens and the constant legal pummeling of trans people.
As the presidential election draws closer and closer, the sense of impending dread becomes harder and harder to carry. I see it in my peers and I see it in myself. Hope shrivels with every failed Democratic promise and dread becomes heavier with every conservative success.
It feels as though us queer people are watching politicians through a window as they make life-changing decisions. Fat cats gilding themselves as our peers in their bespoke suits, willingly skewing the political climate in their favor with no regard for the suffering they inflict.
Queerness constantly conflicts with the norms of American society. We are treated as the opposition to morality, the expression of our lives is treated as an abhorrent deviation. Because of this, the stakes of this presidential election are punishing.
Suffolk University sophomore Riley Murtaugh expressed her dread regarding the election and its stakes. She conveyed the drastic difference between the two candidates, stating that there was a clear choice and that both candidates have the ability to change the way that the U.S. functions, for better or for worse.
For me, and many other queer students like Murtaugh on campus, that clear choice is Harris. While I have not been able to get a clear grasp of most of her policies, I can perfectly understand what the right has been trying to convey, especially through the threat of another Trump presidency.
I have witnessed the turbulent nature of treating personal lives as a feature of politics. The anger and cruelty that morality taking the place of law has bestowed upon the current political climate makes me question my place as an American. Specifically, the ramifications of discarding Roe vs. Wade have been disastrous. The hypocrisy of the Republican party fighting so hard to rip away the American right to privacy is truly frightening.
It is truly dehumanizing to realize that the policies of the right have filled so many Americans with pure, blinding hatred that they do not have the means to realize that these policies will destroy their lives as well. Based on the propositions of Project 2025, I believe that Republican politicians will not stop at stripping queerness from America, but the freedoms that make America the place that it is.
I am fearful for my standings as an American but most importantly as a queer person. I am fearful for my friends who plan on seeking out future Trans-medical care, and it is terrifying to admit that the results of this election dictate whether or not my loved ones and I will be able to live freely, and truthfully to who we are.
The thought of a Trump victory shakes me to my core, it evokes visions of the destruction of my country and my rights. The future of my community is hanging on a thin fishing line and I fear that both politicians are angling scissors, preparing to sever us from previously recognized rights.
To be queer in America is learning how to stifle my own voice out of fear of being ostracized by my family. To be queer in America is to watch politicians debate over my right to live. To be queer in America is awfully isolating. But most importantly, to be queer in America is to persist.
No matter who wins the election, it is important for my community to remember that, even when it becomes the hardest thing to do, the fight never stops. I urge the members of my community to violently hold onto what makes us queer, to valiantly fight against a regime that wishes to dismantle us, and to never lose sight of a future where we can live freely without fear.
In the darkest of times, our hope needs to serve as a beacon. Conservatives can restrict us through legislation, strip us of our rights, and make queer lives a punishment in itself, but the moment that we give in and let them steal our hope is the moment that we lose the fight. I am urging my peers not to give up and to uphold the standards set by the activists who came before us.
Our community has come so far from the weights that have held us down for centuries, but we still have a ways to go before we are completely liberated from the shackles of a homophobic society. The most powerful act of rebellion is to persist, to live freely and bravely.
My queerness is an incredible act of rebellion, it is a sharp scream in a silent room and it is irrevocable. My queerness is inseparable from my personage and therefore inseparable from my politics. Within the current political climate, it appears to be that my greatest act of rebellion is to be an immovable rock.
