How I feel about Donald Trump winning his second Presidential term today over Kamala Harris…. is influenced a lot by line dancing.
Hear me out, ‘cause this seemingly unconnected thing might hold the seed of the solution to everything.
My husband and I have gone country western line dancing multiple times a week for over three years now. We’re regulars at our local clubs - we start each night by hugging and greeting the dozens of people we dance with each week. We throw huge line dancing parties at our home, where over a hundred people are invited. People notice when we miss a week. People genuinely care about us.
Many of those people are Republicans who support Donald Trump. Many are gay, lesbian, transgender, poly, crossdresers. Some are gay people who support Donald Trump. There are old and young, folks with lots of money and folks who can’t afford the glass of wine in front of them. Liberals and conservatives. People whose families came from a different country five generations ago and people who immigrated here five years ago.
We don’t talk about politics. We just have fun dancing together and getting to know each other. I can’t think of a single other place in my life that is filled with such diversity, where we all get along despite our differences.
I think it’s because we’re connected by the dancing. It makes us see each other as HUMANS first. Humans, with beliefs that come from our lived experiences. Humans, struggling to thrive in this world and make the choices that are best for our loved ones. Humans, who see the world in a very different way from each other, not because any of us are evil or ignorant or rotten… but because we’ve all lived different lives from each other.
Let me be clear about my beliefs:
I support a woman’s right to choose what she does with her own body
I support LGBTQIA+ rights
I believe immigrants are the bedrock of this country
I believe what scientists have been saying for decades about climate change
I support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color’s rights
… and I also see absolutely zero benefit in demonizing the people who voted differently than me. Or refusing to befriend them. Or excluding them from our parties. From what I can see, all that does is further divide us until we’re all in complete silos, only hearing and being validated by people who believe the exact same way we do.
I’m a beyond-college-educated, upper middle class, Asian-American woman living in Los Angeles, CA and my best friends are a gay couple who have been together for over 30 years. When I greet a line dance friend who is wearing a Christian cross necklace and American flag-gun earrings… I think we both understand that our politics might be different.
And despite that, I believe my line dance community would absolutely help me in a time of need. With their money, food, hours and energy… and that’s something important. Something human underneath all the politics that gives me hope.
So I’m incredibly sad and disappointed and frustrated and confused today about the election results. I so wanted hope to win out over fear. And the one thing that is making me feel better right now is CURIOSITY.
Why REALLY did the majority of voting Americans choose Donald Trump?
What do I not understand about their lives and beliefs and fears, because of the privileged place I am in?
How do we see more of each other’s full humanity, because this us-versus-them bullshit is really hurting us all
And finally… what can I do to fight for women’s rights and gay rights and trans rights and immigrant rights and people of color’s rights, in a way that doesn’t continue to divide us?
(I also realize that I’m in the incredibly privileged position of a cisgender, heterosexual, conventionally attractive, female member of a model minority who is highly educated, not reproducing, and currently paying a mortgage on a single-family house in Southern California. If you are in a more vulnerable position and you are fucking angry or disgusted or afraid or despairing… you deserve to feel that.)
I might look back on this later and feel really different. But for now… the only thing giving me hope is embracing our messy, stupid, fearful, trying-as-hard-as-we-can, halting, painfully slow, human stumbling towards progress and love and courage.
-Shinah (Nov 6, 2024)