By JL Andrepont, Senior Policy Analyst, 350 Action

As a Queer, Black, Trans, Disabled climate activist, so much is painful about living in this country and operating within our political system. The entire electoral process is deeply flawed. But I’m seeing some really dangerous rhetoric that directly implies that VP Harris and Trump are nothing but two sides of the same coin. These people and their supporters are not the same at all and viewing them that way puts me and my communities at risk. I firmly believe in maintaining our highest ideals for who we should be as a country, beyond any one candidate, party, or election. I am a progressive climate activist and a policy analyst with deep political experience, so believe me, I know that this is not the finish line. And the choice before us is binary. We must defeat Trump if we want to keep building power, making positive change, and fighting for intersectional justice.

VP Kamala Harris is the only choice because she actually cares about my communities and has for her entire career. In 2006, she crafted the argument to end the trans-panic, gay-panic defense¹ and hosted a conference to teach DAs all across the country how to beat it and get justice for my people.² Harris has sued Big Oil;³ she believes the climate is in crisis and that we need to address it;⁴ in San Francisco she created the city’s first environmental justice office;⁵ and she wants to keep the US in the Paris Climate Agreement.⁶ VP Harris believes in legal, safe reproductive healthcare for all;⁷ so much so that she co-wrote the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2020 to track and curb this health crisis back when she was a Senator.⁸ She understands and doesn’t shy away from the fact that our country’s history is flawed; our present is flawed; and our law-making processes are flawed; but Harris firmly believes that we have to be in the fight to make this country and our government better.⁹

She sees people like me — Queer people, Black people, Trans people, Nonbinary people, Disabled people, Progressives, climate policy analysts, former academics, DV and rape survivors — as people. And for all those reasons and more I enthusiastically voted for VP Harris and encourage everyone else to do so, as well. I want a president (and Congress) who sees me – a Trans person – as a human and fights for me.

Donald Trump thinks Black people steal and eat neighborhood pets;¹⁰ and that we are stupid and come from s–thole countries.¹¹ He wants to use the federal government to define people like me, Trans folks, right out of existence.¹² Donald Trump is a rapist.¹³ He told us to inject bleach to get rid of Covid.¹⁴ Donald Trump does not believe in the rights of Palestinians or the viability of a two-state solution.¹⁵ He’s a bigot,¹⁶ a liar,¹⁷ a fascist,¹⁸ and a creep.¹⁹

Donald Trump thinks my life’s work, combatting the climate crisis, is ridiculous and based on a hoax perpetrated by China!²⁰

Do I need more reasons to explain why, with less than one week before the election, I’m anxious but motivated? The early vote turnout is exciting but not enough. We need a landslide to prevent another January 6th. So, for the sake of the republic; for the safety and respect of immigrants, people who can get pregnant, and the LGBTQI+ community; for our veterans who are not and never will be “suckers” and “losers”;²¹ for the protection of social security; for climate justice; for my own safety and right to exist; for the chance to end the horrifying genocide in Gaza and move the US government on their military support of the Israeli government’s wars; I beg everyone to vote Blue up and down the ticket. Vote like lives depend on it, because they do.

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