The internet likes to say millennials have lived through an unprecedented number of unprecedented times. It sure feels like it sometimes.
Not that this millennial thinks it’s a competition. Generational warfare is lazy and I fully understand that every human being has faced significant hurdles in life, whatever year they were born.
Like so many of us, I’m just tired of how harrowing some of these moments in time have become.
For me, these flashpoints in history began with 9/11. I was in high school and remember the day’s chaos and confusion so vividly. I’ll never forget watching the towers fall with my class. Abject horror.
I’ll also never forget the days after. Many Americans recall the unity that enveloped our country after 9/11, which certainly existed, but that’s not what I remember most from growing up in Ohio.
What sticks with me is learning how xenophobic this country could become, which isn’t a popular talking point. I still remember arguing with my Social Studies teacher, an adult responsible for children, that history had proven domestic terrorists could be white as well as brown.
I moved to Florida after college, a major life change set during the Great Recession. It was an exciting time to try to get a job, to say the least.
Not all unprecedented times are bad, of course. I proudly voted for President Barack Obama twice and remember celebrating each victory with new friends. I’ll also never forget watching SCOTUS rule on marriage equality with my boyfriend, now my husband.
The era has more moments I’d rather forget, however, including the rise of Donald Trump. The launch of his first presidential campaign stands out.
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best… they’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems,” he said in his first speech. “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
It was clear from the beginning that he sought to “other” anyone who didn’t look like him. His xenophobia reminded me of my high school teacher.
Trump’s electoral victory over one of the most qualified presidential candidates in U.S. history still turns my stomach, but his first term was an unprecedented time in and of itself.
Key moments include Aug. 12, 2017. That’s when a neo-Nazi murdered U.S. citizen Heather Heyer in Virginia and the president proclaimed there were “very fine people on both sides.”
Trump completely mismanaged the COVID-19 pandemic after that, the impact of which is still being felt, and failed our country as we reckoned with the murder of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020.
He also permanently stained American history on Jan. 6, 2021. Everyone in this country knows what happened that day, no matter how many pardons the president issues. Most of us watched it happen on live TV.
Three major flashpoints follow, beginning with Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in 2024. The former vice president warned Americans he would “use the United States military against American citizens who simply disagree with him” if re-elected, which brings us to the very preventable and very dark days we find ourselves in now.
Renee Good, a 37-year-old wife and mother in Minneapolis, was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jan. 7. Her wife said she “lived by an overarching belief: there is kindness in the world and we need to do everything we can to find it where it resides and nurture it where it needs to grow.”
Just weeks later, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Alex Pretti on Jan. 24. The 37-year-old ICU nurse worked at the Minneapolis VA and his parents said he “wanted to make a difference in this world.” Like Good before him, it very much appears that he did. They should both be here to see it.
These U.S. citizens were murdered by the U.S. government, which maintains at this point that they’ve done nothing wrong. Video evidence contradicts this.
Unprecedented times indeed, and a reminder to take care of ourselves and each other however we can. Please use whatever privilege you have to speak out against injustice for those who can’t, like Good and Pretti. The truth matters.
In this issue we focus on another concern. The Florida Department of Health has announced changes to the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program and advocates sound the alarm, warning thousands could soon be without lifesaving medication.
In news, Winter Pride prepares to light up St. Petersburg with an LGBTQ+ laser installation and the Susan Terry Foundation issues three new grants. We also highlight the opening of Anthem in Orlando and preview the ninth annual ReadOUT.
Watermark Out News is proud to be your LGBTQ+ news source. Please stay safe, stay informed and enjoy this latest issue.
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