It used to be that every 50 minutes in Washington State, someone was arrested for cannabis possession. Nine out of 10 of those arrests were people of color, even though more than twice as many white people smoke weed as people of color. Legal weed is a social-justice issue. It’s an incarceration issue. It’s an issue we need to prevent President Trump and his racist henchmen from turning back the clock on. Stop into your neighborhood pot shop and introduce yourself and tell them you’re their neighbor and you support them. And maybe while you’re at it, buy a gift for someone who likes weed.
Abortion rights and LGBTQ rights will also come under attack. President Trump believes there should be “some form of punishment” for women who have abortions, and Vice President Mike Pence believes in conversion therapy for LGBTQ people.
So what can you do? “Honestly, right now, donations are what’s best for us,” said Mercedes Sanchez, director of communications for Cedar River Clinics, which has clinics in Renton, Seattle, and Tacoma and offers direct services in reproductive health care and LGBTQ health care.
And to protect the LGBTQ community? “Have you heard of the SAFE Alliance?” Sanchez asked. “They were developed when the stupid bathroom laws were coming up. It’s a statewide coalition of organizations and individuals that are working to protect Washington’s antidiscrimination laws, specifically focused on transgender protections.”
Speaking up and getting involved in the political fight is important, Sanchez said, but she reiterated that the most helpful thing people can do is donate money. “We’re bracing for an influx of patients,” she said. “Our clinics have been around for more than 43 years. I hate to say it, but we have been through all the awful times, and our plan is to hold the line for reproductive rights, because without people offering direct services, our rights are meaningless.”
Read the full feature The Resistance: How to Defeat Donald Trump’s Plot Against America
