sharice davids just unseated a republican in the middle of fucking kansas becoming the first native american woman to serve in the us house of representatives and guess what SHE’S ALSO A LESBIAN
“Ilhan Omar escaped war-torn Somalia and grew up in a Kenyan refugee camp. Her family immigrated to America with nothing. And tonight she became the first Somali American congresswoman in US history!”
I know there have definitely been some disappointing outcomes with these elections, but there are some amazing things happening across the country:
The first openly gay governor (Jared Polis in CO, who’s also CO’s first Jewish governor), the first Muslim women in Congress (Ilhan Omar in MN and Rashida Tlaib in MI), the youngest woman elected to Congress (Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez in NY) and so many more – as of 10:45 pm MST the LA Times (https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-women-elected/) reported that 81 women were elected to office, 30 of them being women of color.
One of my favorites to see was Sharice Davids, a lesbian Native American MMA fighter who was the first native American woman elected to Congress (alongside Deb Haaland in NM) who unseated a Republican man in Kansas of all places.
I’m voting because the people in power do not represent me.
I’m voting because things have to change.
I’m voting because facts matter.
I’m voting because the truth matters.
I’m voting for checks and balances.
I’m voting for politics borne of decency and empathy, not spite and fear.
I’m voting against hate.
I’m voting against divisiveness.
I’m voting against racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia,
transphobia, Islamophobia, and all other forms of bigotry and othering.
I’m voting for all of the people before me who could not vote.
And I’m voting for all of those who still can’t today.
I’ll be sharing stories today received in asks, messages, or submissions (tell me if you want it anonymous) tagged as Why I’m Voting (bonus points for selfies with your ‘I voted’ stickers–but don’t take them at the polls!).
If you would report an undocumented immigrant to ICE you would have reported me to the Nazis and I don’t fucking trust you
A note:
I live in a state where you “have to” report anyone you suspect of being undocumented (that wonderful hellhole of Arizona). Now in practice this law has fallen far short, thank goodness. But if you live in such a place and they start enforcing it, here is how you get around it:
Assume everyone who doesn’t speak English is visiting.
Never ask about their job, because if they tell you they work here then you know they’re not visiting. You see them a lot for several weeks or months? Hm. Someone in the family must be ill. That’s terribly tough. They always dress in old, ratty laborers’ clothes? I feel you, my dude, I can’t afford new clothes either, and my dad has the fashion sense of an aardvark, so sometimes it’s not even about “affording” them. They say they’ve been here for years? You must have misunderstood. Spanish isn’t your first language, after all. First and last name? It never came up, or you don’t recall–you meet a lot of people.
And then, if you’re asked: no, you haven’t seen anyone residing illegally in the United States. Just people visiting.
Very good very important addition
Essentially, this is the civil society version of a work-to-rule strike.
Don’t do more than is expressly asked of you, and do what you are asked with such an intense attention to protocol that not asking you at all becomes more effective than even bothering.
In this case:
“Have you seen an illegal immigrant?”
“Could you describe an illegal immigrant, officer?”
*officer describes a person who is in the country without appropriate paperwork, or who has crossed the border illegally*
“No, sir, I haven’t seen any illegal immigrant.”
And this is correct. You have NOT seen an illegal immigrant, because you have no way of knowing if Jose Fulano is here legally or not. And since you can’t see his paperwork (or lack thereof), and did not personally see him cross the border illegally, you are only answering precisely the question asked.
Astronaut bird 