"The end of the republic has never looked better"

I find myself looking back on my life. I am registered Independent, not Democrat, because in my lifetime the Democrats have not been supportive of LGBT people until very recently. For half my life homosexuals were barely tolerated. For practically all of my life trans people were horrendous and unspeakable.

And now we're here.

"The end of the republic has never looked better" is something that President Obama said at the White House Correspondents' dinner. It's not much of a joke now, is it? I realize again just how amazing his accomplishment was, to be elected twice as a black President. The old saying goes "You have to be twice as good to get half a chance," and he must have been at least four times as good, to get a whole chance. Hillary was not four times as good.

I'm not blaming the Democrats. (Although I do remember that Obama was very coy about his position on same-sex marriage.) I look back at my life and I remember when we were unspeakable. Which has been pretty much this whole time. But we were here and we are still here.

When this country was founded, white men were in charge. Yesterday . . . a significant number of Americans voted to keep white men in charge. Not a majority. If this is the meaning of America then . . . those of us who are disadvantaged under that system have to survive. That's all we can do.

I'm white. I don't identify as female. White male supremacy gives me some privilege but not enough to make it worthwhile. I know which side I'm on. We were here and we are still here.