i voted. but i didn't vote because of me. i'm a white, cis, straight male physician with excellent healthcare coverage. i'm going to be fine.

i voted because of how the results of this election will affect other people.

i voted because i want a society where everyone prospers.

i voted because people are dying as a pandemic rages out of control because of our president's failure to manage it.

i voted because healthcare is a human right that should be provided for everyone.

i voted because everyone should have the right to marry the person they love.

i voted because separating children from their families, keeping them in cages, and not bothering to ensure they can be reunited is unthinkably evil.

i voted because i want everyone to have the right to worship or not worship as they choose.

i voted because climate change is an existential threat to humanity, and we need a government that takes that seriously.

i voted because Black people are being murdered by police officers who aren't held to account.

i voted because so many other people are systematically prevented from having their voices heard.

i voted because our current president is using his power to enrich himself and his allies, rather than serving the people who pay his salary.

i voted because women and people of color are paid less than white men for doing the same jobs.

i voted because there is an enormous wealth gap between the rich and the poor, and because billionaires shouldn't co-exist alongside homeless/starving people.

i voted because education should be affordable.

i voted because nobody should have to work more than one full-time job just to survive.

i voted because i want a president that treats everyone with decency and respect.

i voted because our criminal justice system imprisons too many people, for far too long, at far too high a cost, for insignificant crimes without any benefit--and because this is harmful both to the imprisoned people and the people who love them.

i voted because facts matter.

i voted because women have a right to control their bodies, including the right to choose a safe abortion, knowing that criminalizing abortion doesn't make it less rare--just less safe, and also that providing access to contraception and comprehensive sex ed decreases abortions.

i voted because every child deserves access to early childhood education.

i voted because i care more about groups that have been marginalized than i do about myself.

i voted for a better future for my kids and everyone else's.

there's one week. don't wait. please vote.