“Don’t Say Gay” —We all know it. We’ve all heard about it. We laughed at first because we saw it as a ridiculous attempt at doing what we thought was impossible–ignoring the existence of millions of Americans. It sounds ridiculous, the institutionalization of homophobia at a state level. To be sure, no one would let this pass? Right?
We saw it as a comically ridiculous waste of legislative time, but little did we expect it to actually pass, that Florida House Bill 1557 in 2022. I think that was the first time that I remember thinking, “They can’t just get rid of words, get rid of people.” Right?
We thought Roe was secure. We heard whispers of it going back to the bench, but it was a constitutional right. Right?
Dobbs v. Jackson was decided in June 2022. Roe did go back to the court. Roe did fall to right-wing policy.
As much as they beat into us the role of the Supreme Court is to not be political, can someone tell me why conservative justices are still being appointed and approved to the bench?
We aren’t going back. We can’t go back? Yeah right.
But now, the Spanish language version of the White House website is gone. Reproductive and contraceptive info websites are dark. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts everywhere are being rolled back. I won’t say that we are moving in the wrong direction, because I think we are being pushed against our best efforts to fight back.
We have rallied, we have fundraised, we have done grassroots work on a national scale. But yet “Don’t Say Gay” has turned into “Don’t say…
- “Women”
- “Gender”
- “Science”
- “Ethnicity”
- “Hate Speech”
- “Inequality”
- “Minority”
- “Racially”
Words that we have fought to bring light to institutionally and socially for decades, wiped out with a single Executive Order. For what? Making this country great? Well guess who does that. Women, Black people, gay people, lesbian people, transgender people, queer people, indigenous people, immigrants, minorities, qualified people. Right?
“Nothing changes instantaneously: in a gradually heating bathtub you’d be boiled to death before you knew it.” -Margaret Atwood in The Handmaid’s Tale
My advice for my fellow pissed-off Americans: Recognize that the water is heating up. Do everything in your power to stop it. Am I right?