Two days after learning that Hillary Rodham Clinton will not be our 45th American President became a reality. I was stunned.
I went to work stoic, no emotion, it was surreal. I wanted to get through the day in order to just retreat. I immediately took down all of HRC's campaign flyers, buttons anything that would remind me of this unexpected election loss. I was emotionally, socially, and economically invested in the last year in hoping and expecting her to become our President. It saddened me to know this was not the case.
I had no intention of finding out why or what happened. Political TV News was turned off; I continued to remove myself from the energy of the election buzz.
Soon after coming off of the setback, I came out; took my dog for a nice walk around the neighborhood. Outside of our doors, I was not the only one who encountered this surreal experience of an election loss. I walked towards the Castro district and saw hundreds of people gathered on Castro and Market Streets. Sequestered by police officers and traffic officials as people appeared to meet to huddle on what happened. The smell of burning sage was in the air, my guess is to cleanse the election, lit candles as a vigil. The gathering turned out to be one of unity, rejection, and goals of making the decision go in the right. But, with what's been decided, personally, I thought it was moot to try.
Just off to the side of the rally, or gathering, someone sprayed on the ground, "10% of SF voted for Trump". No need to fact check, but it may be true. Most of the SF bay area was Pro-Clinton supporters.
So this leads me to slowly understand what this means to our LGBT community in terms of rights and services. If what Trump campaign promises holds true, San Francisco city and some of its health and social issues may be cut. I don't know the exact specifics, but I'm sure it will be significant. The recipients of these services will not have any back up plans. For many others, this will be only the beginning.
I've gotten through most of the phases of this election outcome, stunned, sad, and dealt with a setback. But what other phases will I encounter?
Let's hope its positive and an inclusive one.
