For longer than you may realize, many groups of people have had to think about, discuss and assess safe spaces. These groups generally include women, LGBTQIA folks, and people of color. We have to always be careful of where we are, who is around us, and on high alert for harm we might suffer because of our gender, sexuality, what we’re wearing, or the color of our skin.
I know mothers who have to teach their sons how to interact with cops, because a police officer is more likely to have their finger on the trigger of a gun the moment they see a Black man behind the wheel of a car.
I know Latinos who triple-check that their vehicle’s doors are locked when they drive through rural, predominantly white towns.
Surely, we all know that transgender people, particularly women, face higher incidences of sexual violence, assault and murder – higher than cisgender women.
And, in addition to that, cisgender women still have to wonder if the next man approaching them on the street means them harm. Especially if he’s displaying obvious red flags (we all know what they are; if you don’t, then you are part of the problem).
Let’s not even get into Democrats, liberals and progressives in small-town America who were and are targeted for vandalism because of election signs, “Resist” signs, and stickers or flags on their vehicles.
It’s exhausting to constantly be on high alert.
It’s also bullshit.
Let Them Have *Unsafe Spaces*
It’s time to make those people fear us. It’s time to make unsafe spaces for the people who deserve them – Republican officials and MAGAs. How do we do that?
1. Take everything back from them.
And I mean everything: libraries, schools, workplaces, coffee shops, firing ranges, and more. Start a book club to read and discuss the “pornography” they claim is in schools (one of the most amazing results of the recall of Cass County fascist, Terri Cunningham-Swanson, was the emergence of a book club known as Renegade Rural Readers).
Do not welcome the MAGAs or elected Republicans into your spaces, unless they come to you sincerely, humbly, and ready to either admit they’ve been fooled or are open to learning.
2. Reclaim words, colors, symbols and service.
Wear red. MAGAs don’t own the color. They don’t own the U.S. flag or the word “patriot.” They don’t have any more right to these things than anyone else.
Show up to a protest in a group wearing coordinated red shirts instead of in black (though black bloc is classic). Wave a flag, say you’re a proud patriot, and mean it. Don’t just give it the lip-service of a MAGA. Volunteer to help your local veterans, moms and children in shelters, and show up to serve your community.
3. Don’t buy into their gaslighting.
When Trumpers gaslight you and whine, “Liberals are supposed to be tolerant and here you are being all hateful,” the answer is Yup, we’re being hateful to you assholes, because we don’t tolerate your intolerance. Your argument is invalid. Byyyyeeee.
These people have had the advantage for far too long, and now they think that because they walk into a library and see a book with gay characters, they are somehow being erased and oppressed. They are afraid to make way for others because their own egos are too fragile. Don’t let them do that to you or your community.
They built the gallows. They have no right to cry when you cut them off with the efficiency of a guillotine.
4. Remind them they’re to blame.
When your local neighborhood MAGAs complain that everything sucks, remind them that they chose this. Especially here in Nebraska. And if they still don’t understand why they aren’t welcome in a space, then they never will. Shut the door in their face and carry on.
Tax the rich. Leave the kids alone. Let women make their own choices. Fight the power.
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