To be clear there is no normal…

Like many things about life normal is simply a social construct, however, I am inclined to believe it is a false social construct. There are lots of social constructs that are built around actual realities. Social constructs about sex is a good example. The social construct of female or male is based on a collection of sexed traits, biology, hormones and so forth. Gender roles, though when limited to a binary are problematic, they are constructed around observed realities about actual people.

The idea of normal is a totally different thing. It is constructed about an idea of what a normal person is, what that intelligence, height, weight, emotions, neurology etc should be. But, in reality, there is no such person that meets all of these so-called normal traits. No one is normal.

I repeat there is no normal.

Shock, no it was predictable…

America has a new president, and in a sense, the world does too. I’m Australian, and it is often said that when America sneezes Australia catches a cold. No time in my life has I ever hoped this not to be true than now.

Social media is full of outrage, shock and horror that Trump is doing what he said he would do. What is happening is utterly shocking, yes, but, we shouldn’t be shocked. Trump is doing what he said he would do.

Safety is lost…

If you as a person fall outside of what Trump believes is “normal” you have lost your safety. This seems to be an across the board situation. It’s not just about LGBTQIA+ communities that are no longer safe, It’s not just non-white folk that are no longer safe. It’s not just disabled people who are no longer safe and it’s not just sick people who are no longer safe.

If you vary from Trump’s version of normal then you are no longer safe. And that normal doesn’t exist, so nobody is safe. Except perhaps if you are middle-aged, heterosexual, white male with secure employment. You might just be ok under trump if you fit that category.

Genuinely thankful…

I am genuinely thankful right now. What? Yes, I am genuinely thankful I am not an American right now. If I was I would be in legitimate fear for my existence, my safety, my human rights and in short my life.

As an autistic, trans, gay woman I tick quite a few of the undesirable, abnormal and to be eradicated boxes on the Trump agenda.

I am, as I said genuinely thankful that I am not an American right now. And to be honest I have always had a secret desire to have been born in America, to be an American. For all, it’s flaws I have been romanced and one over by America. But not right now. Right now I am thankful to not be.

But scared too…

I am scared for my friends. I have many friends who are American, both those I have met online and those I have met in real life. But, they are all true friends. I am scared for my American friends, be they:

  • Indigenous
  • LGBTQIA+
  • Women
  • POC
  • Disabled
  • Sick
  • Unemployed
  • Underemployed
  • LEGAL immigrants
  • Latino origin

And I am sure I label only a few of those groups of people that are at risk under Trump.

But it’s not just Trump…

The thing is though it’s not just trump. Eight years of overt racism against the first Black POTUS has sown the ground for this. When the government is shut down by a petulant middle aged white man using up time on the floor of the house by reading Dr Suzz. When obstruction and calls for birth certificates dominate the landscape of politics rather than the real issues of the day, then, Houston we have a problem.

The idea of impeachment has been thrown around since before the inauguration, indeed I suspect even before Trump won the election. It’s an obvious thought. As is assassination, extreme yes, but, certainly understandable.

But here’s the thing, if you impeach Trump, what are you left with? Pence, and it’s an open question as to whether that would be better or worse. So impeach Pence and then, I think, you go to The Secretary of State, and again it’s an open question, of whether that would be a better or worse situation.

Just wait and see…

There has been a lot of wait and see, maybe he won’t be so bad after all. Well, I think we’ve already seen enough. Over the weekend LEGAL residents of the USA were prohibited from returning from their homes on the basis of their country of birth. Yes, that’s right, LEGAL RESIDENTS of THE USA. Not illegals aliens but LEGAL aliens.

So I think wait and see is already a moot point. We’ve waited and we’ve seen. In horror, we’ve seen in one week the ongoing of reforms, the dismantling of civil and human rights.

There is no more wait and see, there is no more he won’t really do that.

Trump is doing what he said he would do and somehow he must be stopped.

Week One

It’s time to act…

There is no question Trump must be stopped. The time for waiting and seeing is passed, it’s time to stop it now. Let’s not be like the everyday people of Germany of the 20’s and 30’s that allowed Nazi Germany to happen. The ball has started rolling, it must be stopped before it is unstoppable.

It won’t be easy and it will take more than a single day of action, it will have to be sustained, it will have to be risky and it will no doubt have casualties. But it must happen. It just must.

The very lives of the intersectional and minority groups depend on it.

There is no innocent bystander in this, the evil of this is there for all to see. There is no nothing to see here, move along.

Resist. Please. We marginalised, disabled, sick… are counting on you.