We know racism exists and of course all of the racists and bigots are going to latch onto one thing and scare people. Some people are cruel and suck but please don't let the actions of some bad eggs represent the group as a whole. His running platform was never "make America white again," it's these extremists warping that in their heads. It's our job as kind, level headed and educated people to protect our fellow man from idiots like these. You have extremists on both sides. You have people vote shaming and accusing others of being homophobic, sexists, racist, xenophobic, uneducated mobs and how dare they not vote for "the right" candidate? Just because they are not spraying graffiti on the walls, how is that any different or better?

[edit] Just gonna edit this up a bit as I'm not trying to make a debate. The point I'm trying to make is there are extremists on both sides and they are all doing the wrong thing.

The ones who are 'vote shaming' and asserting they've validated a racist platform aren't hurting anyone. We are allowed to be angry. We have every right to be. These people do not deserve to be protected. If you believe what Trump was selling, be prepared to defend yourself. I'm steadfast in my desire for equality. As a gay man, let me say that you (a general you, not you specifically) are no ally of mine if you voted for the Republican party.

If a campaign pledge to block ALL Muslims from entering the country is allowed, validating a cultural divide, creating an us vs them mentality, lemme pivot and say that I am more than right to say ALL Trump supporters have to shoulder blame for this. They knew what they were voting for; anyone could have told you racist, sexist, homophobic attacks would rise under his direction. We are not the ones seeking to divide. But we are angry and we need our voices heard.

I wanna echo everything Thomas said, especially:

Do not pretend if anyone who voted for him wasn't voting for this. Nothing was hidden, he had a campaign filled with hate the entire time, his runningmates did, the entire party did.

You absolutely have a right to be angry just as Trump supporters have a right to be angry if Hillary won. That's the thing though, a lot of Trump supporters also have a desire for equality. So why then did they vote for Trump? Multiple reasons

1. They hated the last 8 years and felt Obama did nothing for this country. I dont agree with all his policies, but I know people who seriously think that he was trying to tear this country apart. The way he handled the shootings, publicly speaking out against the police force and further the wedge between races was, all of the generals he lost because he refused to listen to them when they were trying to guide him, and Obama care just to name a few things I've heard complaints about.

2. The war overseas. Up until recently, Obama did not want to even admit ISIS was a serious threat and a terrorist group. Hillary was promoting a no fly zone over Syria which was going to piss Of the Russians. Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to be enemies with the people that could cause another world war.

3. Immigration. Immigration control has been very relaxed even with all the craziness around. More and more people are either coming illegally or not having adequate background checks and Hillary wanted to up this number to 65,000 more than even Obama. The Germans had to close off their borders to immigrants because the country couldn't handle the population swell. Our economy isn't great, the job market isn't great and we are already plagued with poverty so how does increasing the population help? There are many innocents that are fleeing but they also have a completely different view on life and how to treat people. They are not going to change their religion or way of life just to live here. Yes we need to be tolerant of their lifestyle but there's a fine line of what violates our idea of human rights. The answer shouldn't be to flee your home, it should be to make their home a safer place so they dont have to flee.

4. National security. I've stated this before but there is the issue of Hillary leaking information while she was senator. Again, whether she thought herself above the law or had more self-serving malicious intents are unknown since she still hasn't been brought to trial. I'm going to give her the benefit and say she was above it all. Now she's president and has all this critical information about our country. What's not to say this isn't going to happen again?

5. The disconnect between politicians and blue collar America. The country is sick of all the lies politicians feed us. the fact that we know they say one thing and expect them to do another and consider that normal is messed up. Trump is very clearly incapable of filtering what he says so the fact he says he's going to bring change for the better, more people believe it. Hillary has said she would do things as senator and then never did. She says she's for equal rights and the LGBTQ community but at the end of the day, who's to say she will do any of it?

I'm playing a little bit of devil's advocate here just to offer some insights on the other side since most people here voted for Hillary. Historically, we don't agree with 100% of what the running party says it will do. I'm saying the bigotry and equality was what most people that voted for him do not agree with.

I'm sorry that people are being jerks and just assuming that everyone who voted for him is a sexist or a racist. I actually have a coworker who is Cuban (the one that isn't terrified that he'll be deported) who got his citizenship earlier this year who says that he voted for Trump, and that "all" of the Cuban immigrants did. He didn't specify why exactly, but he's one of the nicest people I know, and likes everyone, is kind to animals, has gone to college, all of that stuff that normally makes people assume that you vote democrat. On the other hand, there are definitely people who voted Trump because they are racist or misogynistic, such as one of my other coworkers who is basically anti-literally everyone but straight white guys. However, as is the usual, outspoken people who are doing things that others consider bad are creating stereotypes that are just being slapped onto others unfairly. Sort of like how a lot of Trump supporters I've met are blaming "the liberals" for everything that is wrong with the world. That is why I avoid group judgement. I wouldn't have voted for Trump even a little bit, but I'm not going to be hateful towards anyone who did. The reason that I asked is because I don't understand why anyone would want to vote for him, and I like to be able to see things from other perspectives.

I told someone basically the same kind of thing yesterday. She posted a meme saying that she was going to be disrespectful to Trump the same way that people had been disrespectful to Obama. I explained to her that being disrespectful is not a good way to get others to respect you, because hate breeds hate, and if you want positive change you have to lead by example. Someone else commented that we shouldn't "take the high road, because that's how we ended up here", but the way that we ended up here, at least the way that I see it, was people not having any good choices in this election and choosing the person that wasn't more of the same political crap. While I wouldn't vote for Trump, and I feel like he is a far from ideal candidate, he appealed to a lot of people who feel like they don't have a voice, and they did think he was worth their vote. That doesn't mean that anyone else has to agree with those people or their choice, just be civil, because no matter what happens we're all in this together.

I have seen a lot of people say that they voted for him because he isn't a politician and that therefore you can trust him. People are saying that they are tired of politicians lying for their own purposes. I think that is definitely something that made a lot of people want to vote for him. They're saying he's anti-establishment.

I'm also worried about conversion therapy, because I have a lot of lgbt friends. I've also read a lot about it and a lot of what they want to do is electroshock treatments (electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT), and because I have a psychology degree, I've taken a lot of classes on different treatments, and ECT is useful to some patients in specific circumstances (such as that it can be used for Bipolar disorder or depression), there are a couple of things wrong with Pence's logic. For one, electroshock is not a treatment that is not a go to treatment even in the medical community. It is considered safe and effective for depression or bipolar disorder, BUT it is typically only used when other treatments have been tried and have failed, and when traditional medication is no longer working for the patient. The second, and in my opinion bigger issue, is that being gay or transgender, or whatever other category someone might fall into, is not a mental illness and should not be treated like one.

I'm glad you see things so clearly and aren't quick to judge like so many are right now. People are angry and they have every right to be, but the anger is leading some people to think irrationally/illogically on all sides. It's still too fresh and the wound cuts deep for many people. We need some time to cool off and collect ourselves. Even though he was elected president, doesn't mean we don't have a voice. We can still make change and spread awareness. We need to give people a chance.

Sorry to say that, but we Germans at least accept refugees on a voluntary basis in comparison to other EU states (and not to name states "overseas"). Because we know how war affects people and what it means to have no place to stay at. Closing borders was necessary to allow a better distribution of refugees between the states - since everyone arrived in Bavaria, if they took the Balkan route - and it didn't last for long (btw austria/hungary were the first to close their borders). There is still a major difference between refugee and immigrant.

.. and to stay on topic: I'm not happy with Trump either, a lot of right-wing populist here in the EU are too happy with him becoming president. Elections here in Germany next year are going to be nerve-wrecking as well, if those right-wing politicians continue to join the same train of speech.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing to take in people in need. All I meant was there comes a point where you are just out of resources to support people. I'm sure a lot of those people also don't want to leave their homes but are forced to because of radical thinking. We should be preventative instead of reactive, running away isn't the answer as there aren't many places left to run to. Give people a reason not to want to leave. Maybe my response was a little too lengthy so that point was lost.

[edit]

I feel that my last post on why might be a little too debate-y instead informative so I'm just going to end by saying I'm glad that this election is finally over. I don't think either candidate is fit to be president. I hope all the fighting and negativity ends soon but I understand why people are upset. I'm not LGBT myself, but I have a lot of friends that are and I see how hard it is for some of them to get through life. I will never truly understand what it is like to be LGBT in America but I really do hope you guys get the equality you deserve.

I do get your point, it's just a bit.. um.. unfair (that's probably the wrong wording, but i hope you get what I mean) towards us Germans. Without further explanations and evidence we are used as example and I'm quite sure news from other EU states were not that thematized in the US regarding refugees. But well, if I look at the gossip magazines and tv shows here, they like to show weird stuff from the US as soon as they don't have anything to fill their pages/time.

btw Trump even made Brussels, Belgium's capital, into a German city... after the attacks in march. But well, the republican party is hopefully filling the minister positions with capable politicians.

Merkel's statement made me really happy, y'know. The subtext is so clear and I'm happy she offered more than empty praise: “Germany and America are connected by values of democracy, freedom, and respect for the law and the dignity of man, independent of origin, skin colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political views. I offer the next President of the United States close cooperation on the basis of these values."

And this also put a smile on my face (for any Parks & Rec fans): A letter to America from Leslie Knope, regarding Donald Trump

For all of the people who want to leave the country, my research has basically said that it would be more useful to the future of the country overall for people to move to a swing state where their vote will count for more.

Whoops, that double posted somehow.

I got one thing left to say:

electoral college and faithless electors Dec 19th y'all

I highly doubt enough of Trump's 306 pledged electors could go rogue to make it go to less than 270 for him but I say it should still be interesting to watch the results bc I guess never say never

personally would love for this to happen as Clinton did win popular vote (not like the above would make her win bc she'd still be stuck at 232 or even less if they go rogue too lmao) and I feel like every American should count as one vote no matter where they are regardless of the election results but I think there would be a volatile !$*@ storm if that happened since electoral college never turned the results of the pres election so it's probably not the best thing for the country rn but it would be one good way to implode the whole electoral college system from the inside and yeah I'd love for that to happen but it probably won't

just something to think about, I guess

edit and yes I've given up on commas and grammar rn bleh

Oh yes I see what you mean. My information on the situation in your country is probably outdated then unfortunately so I apologize for generalizing your situation. The closest I have friends is France and Austria but I'm not getting daily news reports from them and they most likely aren't aware of what's really going on I outside of their respective countries.

That makes me happy too :) That was a very inspiring article! The wonderful thing about having a diverse melting pot of cultures is that everyone is unique and different. The bad thing however is that sometimes we don't always see eye to eye or can't agree to things because we are all unique and different. In the US alone you can go to a different state and be in a "completely different country" where the food, slang and general attitude is completely different. The fact that we are still all united under the beliefs of democracy is pretty impressive.

Ok I said I wasn't going to post anymore since I have completely exhausted this topic but I wanted to get back to you guys since you specifically pinged me. Eishfnsja elections meh x.x

But even if they changed, would it matter? She already conceded.

And, in all honesty, no matter how many Trump supporters say that they want equality and just voted for him to shake things up, it just feels like people who voted for Brexit who just wanted to save their country money. Hate crime is up 60% in Britain because of Brexit, and it's already going up here. I'm glad that you had hope that people wouldn't take the validation of someone who ran on hate being elected, but it happened. I appreciate the attempt, but it already feels like we're sliding backwards at an alarming pace.

Though it would be more appreciated if people like you, people with good hearts who voted for Trump, used your voices to stand up to those who voted for him out of hatred for minorities.

The last time the popular vote was higher than the electoral college vote was in 2000 when Bush got elected president and then most of the electoral college still voted for Bush.

I wasn't old enough to vote then, but my practical nature tells me that in general chances are, the electoral college will be the same as it was in 2000.

It depends. If enough go rogue by choosing to abstain from voting at all and there isn't enough votes as a result for either candidate the decision goes to congress to decide. That said, historically it's happened very, very few times in US history and statistically, most of the time the electoral college has mostly stuck with its vote. Historically, as far as I know, 1836 is the only time in US history where the amount of faithless electors was enough to affect the vote so that the candidate didn't get the electoral college vote and then it got thrown to the senate. They objected to the nomination of Johnson because he had a relationship and children with a slave woman which was seen as scandalous at the time. Johnson was still elected as the VP by the senate though so it didn't actually overthrow the final presidential results though.

I saw this on my facebook feed, and honestly it's my sentiment right now:

anyway, like another one of my friends said: "I'm more afraid of the people than of Trump." Trump is a symbol for us to hate, I guess, but seeing all these articles about Muslim and other POC women being harassed and scared for their lives already makes me concerned. I live in fucking CALIFORNIA goddamn it, why the fuck? Can't imagine how bad it is for minorities in the other states.

I really don't understand the fear from the LGBT side? As far as I'm concerned, Trump as vowed to protect this community (can be quoted), and his number one supporter is a gay man from England. Minorities are also not in danger? Existing laws are already protecting them and illegals are the only group that should be concerned. Trump's policies are not going to harm them whatsoever? I think this fear has been engraved into your minds by extremist and the uninformed in your own party... Once again, you're not in danger. Half of Trump supporters would rise up and protest any actions that endanger American rights. I know I would...

LMAO where have you been for literally the past year?

Trump's VP is a fundamentalist Christian Dominionist who believes in electrocuting the gay out of children (aka "conversion therapy") and they've both vowed to strip the LGBT community of the hard-won rights they've fought for over the past eight years, including the right to marry.

"Half of Trump supporters" wouldn't rise up to protect anything that he's sworn to do away with. If they thought that literally everything he said he would do was wrong, they wouldn't have voted for him.

Trump is also an avowed racist who uses anti-Black and anti-Semitic language, vulgar and offensive stereotypes, and appeals to violence.

And has anyone mentioned that the man is a serial sexual predator who brags about assaulting women? And was slated to go on trial for raping a 13-year-old in December until she was forced to drop the case because so many Trump supporters were threatening to murder her?

Oh, and there's that whole thing with Russia, too. You know that Vladimir Putin is a verifiably horrible person that we should not be buddy-buddy with, right?

Trump and Pence are vulgar, hateful pigs who have absolutely no intention of "herr durr only goin after eeleeguls." They want institutionalized stop-and-frisk for Black and Hispanic citizens, aggressive surveillance of and travel restrictions on Muslim citizens, the dismantling of the Affordable Care Act and affordable housing programs, the removal of a woman's right to choose... and that's not even half of it. Nor does that cover what Trump wants to do overseas.

They are not benevolent. They are not harmless. And they are not worthy or deserving of the Presidency. Men like them have no business helming the most powerful and influential country in the world.

I need to read back and catch up to talk with you beautiful people but I just wanted to post this to say thank you since the anon who sent it is likely lurking in here ^_^ <3

Devorer says: Feed that to me again and I might bite your hand off.

lol Cranky ungrateful pet! :P Well I thought it was lovely! Thank you very much anon!!