Antisemitism, racism, and Islamophobia, are horrible issues to should cope with, and we should all all the time communicate out and reject them. However the actuality is, as a proud, Jewish, homosexual man, residing in Washington, D.C. in the present day, I’m extra afraid of Donald ‘felon’ Trump, his Nazi sympathizing co-president Elon Musk, his personal Joseph Goebbels, Stephen Miller; and his Cupboard flunkies like Homeland Safety’s Kristi Noem and State Division’s Marco Rubio, than I’m of any authorized faculty demonstration. Thoughts you, I say authorized.
We dwell in a world the place Trump has made every kind of outrageous habits acceptable. He has dined with white nationalists, stated there are high quality individuals on either side in his first feedback when the Charlottesville riots occurred. As we speak, Trump sits with terrorists in Qatar, accepting a airplane as a bribe, and negotiates with terrorists like Hamas. That is the world Donald Trump has created. That’s what I worry probably the most. It’s a world the place Donald Trump has made it acceptable for racists, homophobes, sexists, antisemites, and Islamophobes to spout their hate within the public sq..
This previous yr I revealed my memoir, and wrote about being a primary era American. My dad and mom got here right here to flee the Nazis — my father from Germany, and my mom from Austria. My father joined the American Military and went again to combat the Germans. His dad and mom have been gassed in Auschwitz. I understood from them and their associates, what antisemitism was. However I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in New York Metropolis, and as I wrote in my guide, by no means felt any of it myself till I used to be 13 on a visit via the Midwest and was known as a ‘Kike’ and needed to ask somebody what that meant.
As to being homosexual, I knew I used to be, though I didn’t perceive it, after I was 12. I might, and did conceal that, till I used to be 34. I then got here out in D.C., which turned out to be a straightforward place to return out. Nevertheless it was close to the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and that made you very cautious. You have been advised to not have your insurance coverage firm pay for a blood take a look at, so God forbid, individuals would assume you have been homosexual, or worse for those who did take a look at optimistic. There was rampant discrimination and worry relating to HIV/AIDS on the time. I do know I misplaced at the least two jobs as a result of I used to be homosexual, but fortunately, neither of these impacted my profession in the long term. I grew to become a homosexual activist, fought for my neighborhood, and issues obtained higher. I had labored for Rep. Bella Abzug (D-N.Y.), sponsor of the primary Equality Act, earlier than I got here out, and met many homosexual individuals who have been very supportive and have become lifelong associates.
As we speak, Donald Trump, actually via his actions, threatens the lives of trans individuals. Whereas we’re celebrating WorldPride in D.C., which as a metropolis is a really welcoming place for the LGBTQ neighborhood, nations across the globe have advised their residents to be on alert if they arrive right here. The USA is on their watch listing for unsafe journey due to Trump’s actions.
When Donald Trump was elected the primary time, his racism, homophobia, sexism, and Islamophobia instantly got here to the fore. It had a destructive influence on the tradition in our nation. It truly modified the tradition, and that, and he, have solely gotten worse over time. As we speak, Trump and his MAGA minions, are really scary. Once more, trans individuals are afraid and antisemitism and Islamophobia are rampant in our nation.
Trump tries guilty it on some overseas college students, however actuality is, it’s his doing. He and his MAGA cult. They’re those I worry, not a graduate pupil at Columbia who helps Palestinians. It’s the Netanyahu authorities in Israel that’s making issues worse. Sure, Hamas should be defeated as they promote genocide in opposition to the Jewish individuals in Israel. However the Israeli authorities ravenous thousands and thousands of Palestinian individuals in Gaza, who should not Hamas, isn’t serving to anybody. It merely creates extra antisemitism. Trump going forwards and backwards on his assist of Netanyahu, after which saying he desires to displace each Palestinian from their residence in Gaza to construct a resort, creates extra antisemitism. Trump is the responsible one, not the Columbia pupil who speaks out for his Palestinian household.
The place it will finish, I have no idea. However my coronary heart breaks for the 2 harmless Israeli diplomats not too long ago killed on the streets of D.C. by a terrorist who principally was given permission to behave out by what Trump is doing on the planet. What he did was vile, and he ought to find yourself in jail for the remainder of his life. Everybody wants to talk out on daily basis, and say antisemitism is unacceptable, and should be stopped. I by no means wish to see Germany in 1939 replicated right here. However that’s what Trump and his MAGA cult are doing. They threaten everybody who they disagree with, and search vengeance for suspected slights. They’re actually attempting to destroy our democracy. By what they’re doing they offer the terrorist who ended the lives of that stunning younger Jewish couple in D.C., implicit permission to behave. As a result of if a president can act like a legal, why can’t he?
