Diversity Rules Magazine

5 Diversity Rules Magazine March 2017 JRK: With Trump's defeat of Hillary Clinton, it presents a clear danger to the advancements made by the LGBTQ community and to our nation's core values, generally. What is your advice for queer people now living in these precarious and turbulent times? TD: I don't like to think of it as a defeat, because Hil- lary was the will of the people. Winning the popular vote by almost 3 million. at fact alone is a daily re- minder to me that we are majority and that the good outweighs the bad in this great country. But yes, Trump being in office presents a clear and very present danger. My advice for the LGBT community and every de- cent human out there is simple... FIGHT! We have to continue fighting back. We can't allow anything to be normalized. We can never get use to injustice. We have to fight any and everything this backwards ad- ministration tries to pull. I've said a lot recently that we have to remember the incredible history of LGBT rights. Our fabulous brothers and sisters at Stonewall put their lives on the line for our rights. e baton has been handed to the next generation and they can't sim- ply twirl that baton they must run with it. JRK: What do you think will be the impact of a Trump Administration specifically related to our transgender brothers and sisters? TD: Just this week Trump rescinded the protections that the Obama administration set in place for Trans- gendered students. is can not be tolerated. I knew that the entire bigoted administration would hit us, but I didn't think it would start with hurting kids. I'm very afraid for our brave and beautiful transgender brothers and sisters. e impact could be catastrophic and we have to make the transgender fight our fight. When I say "our fight" I mean all Americans, because this is not just an LGBT issue. is is a human rights issue and history is watching. We are at a moment in time that go either way and it is our responsibility to make sure America is on the right side of history. JRK: Many LGBT persons and other minority indi- viduals voted for this Administration that is clearly toxic to the queer community. What words of ad- vice do you have for our brothers and sisters that so blatantly turned their backs on their own and voted against their best interests, if any? TD: A GIANT majority of LGBT Americans voted for Hillary Clinton, but for those who were foolish or self-hating enough to vote for a destructive hateful bigot like Trump… my advice is to seek help. ey clearly have something very wrong with them. ey need lots and lots of therapy and maybe one day they might love themselves enough to vote for, instead of against, their own interests. JRK: It is very frustrating to know that a mere 100,000 votes in rust belt states Clinton lost would have turned the tide. Why do you think so many voters stayed home and opted not to vote, specifi- cally the 7.5 million Democrats that voted in '12 but did not in '16? TD: ere is a lot more to November than meets the eye. I honestly believe we are missing the mark when we try to figure out what went wrong and trying to reinvent ourselves as a party. Hillary Clinton was up against two fabricated partisan scandals, Citizens Unit- ed, Gerrymandering, the gutting of the Voting Rights act, Wikileaks, DNC hacking, a 2 year fake news cycle against Hillary that got more social media shares than factual news, a false FBI letter 10 days before the elec- tion that insinuated there was "new" evidence against her and that she was going to be indicted...and we still do not know the extent of Russia's involvement! De- spite all this Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes making her the second most D'Angora - Con't on page 7

• Cover