With each passing day, the United States becomes a scarier and more chaotic place. I don’t want to be a person that comes from a place of doom, but things don’t look good.
The self-proclaimed “Peace President” who swore, “I’m not going to start wars, I’m going to stop wars,” now has us at war with Iran, not to mention Venezuela, where he decided to go in and kidnap their president. That’s also something he said he would never do. Oh, and just this morning the President said, “Cuba’s next.”
Whether you want to admit it or not, we are now living in a fascist country. You can give thanks to the Grand Old Party, which has rolled over and is just co-signing anything Trump wants to do. I find it especially interesting that these countries all seem to have oil, lots of oil. Trump has tasked Marco Rubio to lead talks with officials in Cuba. Doesn’t that make you feel warm and fuzzy?
When fascism is in place, minority groups such as immigrants, LGBTQ people and political opponents are blamed for national problems. Just like what’s happening today. One person is in charge, surrounded by capitulators. My friends, we are in big trouble.
In Kansas, without any warning or grace period, a new law invalidated the driver’s licenses of more than a thousand transgender residents overnight, forcing them to change their gender markers back to their birth sex. So right now, there are many people driving with revoked licenses, which means their insurance is not valid.
Let me try to make you feel a little better here; it might help, but honestly, I doubt it. Because it is not helping me. Not every state is moving in the same direction.
The states with the most protection for queers are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
Happily, New Jersey is on the list. And with Mikie Sherrill being at the helm, she shows no plans on attacking our community. In fact, Sherrill also appointed Lt. Col. Jeanne Hengemuhle as superintendent of the New Jersey State Police — the first woman, and the first open lesbian leader, in the agency’s history. EVER.
So yes, here in New Jersey things may feel safer. But rights don’t disappear at once — they erode slowly. And the past few years have shown just how quickly the ground beneath us can shift.
