#sorry op for the art/band ramble part as a side note but I wanted to talk about it hahahaha

[polariscroquis]

I'm not from the US, but this affects a lot of people and it got me feeling extremely desperate and anxious during the night.

But when I woke up this morning, I thought "many years ago, people survived fascism, nazism, suppression of minority rights, a world war, conservative governments - they fought against them, they resisted, they stood up for their rights and got to where we are today. No matter what happens, humanity has survived this kind of shit and the world won't end. It'll be difficult and dangerous, but it won't end. We can resist and we can survive - and in a few years, just like those people who survived this kind of shit before, it'll look like a distant evil. If the people like me decades ago survived, I can survive too."

I know it isn't the most comforting of thoughts, but it gave me peace. We'll have to be strong, stick together and survive, but history shows us that eventually governments and evil people like this fall and WE go on. History shows it'll be alright - with a lot of blood, sweat and tears, but it'll be alright.

On another note, what I learned from my fave rock/metal bands from the 70's/80's: now is the time to make our art gayer, counter this conservative/fascist/whatever you want to call culture, more feminist, more sexual, more EVERYTHING that is against what it's gonna be shoved down our throats as righteous. That's what art is for and the more I see things about the 80's, the more I understand that relasing the songs we listen today as normal was a HUGE scandal that people tried to censor back in the day.

We're gonna be alright. Keep doing your art, keep fighting back and stand up for your rights. Stay safe and remember: people before us have gone through this kind of shit and they are alright. We'll be alright too.

So, I guess as a middle range millennial, I now get to tell all you young queer kids that what you are feeling right now is exactly how it felt in 2004 when we re-elected George Bush, and not only that but many states put in bans against gay/same sex marriage at the time.

This is probably not comforting, but it is true, and it helps me when I feel hopeless: For every revolution there is a counter revolution, for every step forward there is a step back, that things may not be good forever but they will not be bad, either. That we clawed our way to get where we are and we can claw our way forward from here, too. Talk to your queer elders, the ones who have been here before and will be here again and who threw bricks at Stonewall.

When I was a child, if you got AIDS it was a death sentence. Now it isn't. Now you live on.

So I'll quote angels in america: You are fabulous creatures, each and every one. And I bless you: More Life. The Great Work Begins.