Why It Matters

My husband is an immigrant.
I have needed access to reproductive care.
My children are bi-racial.
Three family members are LGBTQ+.
One needs gender-affirming care.

We're not talking about "politics" here.
We're not talking about a difference in policy.
We're not talking about differences in opinion over tax cuts or foreign affairs or anything like that.

We're talking about human rights that we need to be who we are.

We're talking about not seeing people as "other."

And that's what the current brand of Republicans do. They treat people as "other." They make us feel less than.

"Make America Great Again"... for who? For straight, white, rich men?

Tr*mp says immigrants are "poisoning our country."
Tr*mp says gender-affirming care is the "mutilation of our youth."
Republicans call Kamala Harris a "DEI hire."

Reporter: Why do you think Kamala Harris is rising in the polls?
Tr*mp: Well... she’s a woman. She represents certain... groups of people.

Those "groups of people" are tired of being told they're "less than."

I (occasionally) attend a Unitarian Universalist church, and one of the repeated mantras is: Thou shalt not "other."

It's not about policy.

It's about rejecting hate. Rejecting fear. Rejecting the seeds of chaos.

And if you fall into none of those categories.... If you're not an immigrant or a woman or a person of color or LGBTQ+...

Then it's about affirming the rights of someone other than yourself.
Affirming the rights of everyone.

When We See People as “Other”

Thou Shalt Not Other.

Musings Out LoudAnna Burgess Yang