Ilana Glazer with her child.Photo: Madeline Kim
As aqueer Jewish mama, I’ll be voting for the health and safety of myself and my fellow Americans in the midterms on Nov. 8.
Most Americans, Democrat or Republican, want the same thing — a country that is the most safe for the most people. But what we’re dealing with now is not Democrats vs. Republicans. We’re dealing withfar-right extremists, and it’s not normal.
Ilana Glazer.Madeline Kim
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.
The far-right lies to dehumanize folks — people who are Black, brown, queer, immigrants, or female — so that it’s easier to legislate against their rights. They take nuanced issues and reduce them into black and white in order to divide Americans. For example, the issue ofcritical race theory: this has more layers than the alt-right can hold, so they reduce it into being “for” or “against” it so that Americans split into something like football teams playing against each other.
But we, as a country, have the emotional intelligence to approach tough conversations with respect and grow from them. Extremist discourse minimizes us. It attempts to keep the phenomenal variations of America’s population oversimplified and controllable, to retain power over all the beautiful shades of our people — Black, brown, queer, female, male, trans, non-binary, immigrant and family-centered. These Americans deserve equality and the fierce protection of their basic human rights, and right now, those rights have to be voted for.
A tiny group of people who have power don’t want you to vote. Democracy is their enemy because it gives YOU the power. Democracy is America’s core value. I’m a proud American mom, so I’m gonna go be patriotic as hell and vote like my life depends on it because — you guessed it — it does.
VisitGenerator Collectiveto check your voter registration and make a voting plan today!
source: people.com