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I’m going to confess something rn that might get me ratioed, like I legit dread it’s going to happen, but I’m saying it anyway––in the off chance that it makes even the slightest bit of difference… /1
I voted for Clinton in the 2016 general election. But I was pissed she was the nominee, in large part bec I knew her shitty history when it came to marginalized communities I belong to & marg communities ppl I care about belong to /2
And so, bec I was pissed, I complained LOUDLY. I very vocally doubted things wd get better for me and my kin under her admin, even tho I knew things wd be much worse under Trump /3
Not only did I LOUDLY diss Clinton (who, tbh, I still dislike, for good reason) but I also––for the first time in my life––didn’t volunteer for the Dem nominee's campaign. /4
Part of my thinking was that all the white feminists who were shouting me down, calling me a "Bernie bro," could be the ones who knock on doors for her. I simply wasn’t going to do it. /5
I regret that, bec it’s clear to me that a lot of the priv folks that the "I’m With Her" crowd attracted had never HAD TO knock on doors… & a lot of them didn’t volunteer. Her ground game suffered. Yet we were all SO SURE Clinton wd win. /6
It has ALWAYS marginalized communities who are > involved with GOTV efforts. But I felt like: “If you can’t take my pain around Clinton’s nom srsly, then I don’t want to volunteer alongside you.” /7
So not only did I not volunteer in GOTV but, up until election day, I also bitched & moaned abt Clinton. I want to be clear: my critiques WERE valid. /8
I knew things wd be much worse under Trump, that's why I voted for Clinton. But if I could hv grasped HOW MUCH worse, like really grasped it, I'd hv STFU. That’s on me. I hv to live with that. /9
But I also want to be clear that what put me off THE MOST was how Clinton supporters––people I knew––shouted ppl like me down & called us “Bernie bros.” I am not a bro & what ppl like me had to say could/should hv been addressed. /10
Had those supporters genuinely listened––and had I not centered my own feelings over long-term strategy––I wonder how things might hv been different. Bec I wasn’t alone in my critiques of the Dem ticket. We weren't all some unreasonable crowd. /12
I wish I could travel back in time & tell past me I was wrong. I don’t think we realize how powerful the stories we tell are––the harm they can do. I thought I was just kvetching & no one was listening but ppl were listening. Stories like mine helped depress voter turnout. /14
(I'm doing this thread thing wrong, folks, but I swear to God I'm trying.)
Why am I saying this? I’m saying this bec I’m voting for Biden, tho he was among my LAST picks. And I’m supporting Harris, even tho her assoc w/ the PIC is harming & has harmed a lot of ppl, inc trans ppl like me. /15
I’m also saying this bec I’m noticing a lot of ppl who’ve been very silent on trans rights suddenly dog on Kamala in the name of trans ppl everywhere–– as if they don't see that Trump is ACTIVELY trying to kill us. /16
I’m also noticing a repeat of the same infighting: ppl grieving the nomination & loudly doubting the Dem ticket will be better than Trump––and then their friends & neighbors shouting them down. I know what that feels like on the receiving end. It's not great. /17
It also feels important to emphasize that I'm a leftist–– not a progressive. I know my positions on the carceral state, sex work, taxes, unending wars, trans rights & casino capitalism will likely never fully be addressed by the Dem party. I'm voting for them anyway. /18
My vote for Biden & Harris is abt strategy. It’s like chess: When I’m engaging in direct action, what players do I want on the board? Who can be pressured? It’s not Trump. He'll encourage troops to open live rounds on protestors. He doesn't believe in the law or human rights /19
My vote for Biden & Harris is also less about who they are as politicians (their records, or their messaging) & MORE about a vote FOR my community: for the ppl who will most certainly, and needlessly, die under the Trump admin. /20
