This is Why I'm Voting

Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash

This election, I’m voting.

I’m voting for my wife,
for my children,
for my family,
for my friends,
for my neighbors.

I’m voting for other people’s spouses and partners,
for their children,
their friends,
their neighbors.

I’m voting for the LGBTQ community.
For people of every color.
For people of every faith.
For men.
For women.
For children.

I’m voting for civility.
For decency.
For equality.
For unity.
For humanity.

I’m voting against bigotry.
and hatred,
and exclusion,
and fear,
and false stories,
and lazy stereotypes,
and hurtful caricatures,
and damaging words,
and lies that say that differences are dangerous,
that strangers are a threat,
that whiteness is superior,
that the other is less-than.

I’m voting for people who look, talk, think, believe, worship, and love the way that I do—and for people who don’t.

I voting for people penalized for the color of their skin,
the place they were born,
the clothes they wear,
the language they speak,
the bathroom they use,
the way they worship,
the person they love.

I voting because my skin color and my gender and my orientation are never things I've had to fight for or been wounded or penalized because of.

I voting for Trayvon Martin,
for the Pulse nightclub,
for George Floyd,
for Amber Thurman
for Ukrainians,
for Palestinians,
for Charleston,
for Sandy Hook,
for Parkland,
for Uvalde.

I voting for people I agree with,
for those I don't,
for people I love,
and those I despise,
for my allies,
my adversaries,
for those who have my back
and those who'd thrust a knife into it—
because this is what it means to really believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all and not just for me.

I voting because these things belong to everyone.

I voting because no one owns America, no religion or political party or candidate.

I voting because freedom isn't hoarded and selectively doled out.

I voting because the dream of peace is universal and the right to it should be as well.

I voting because I want to leave the planet less hateful, less divided, more compassionate, and more loving than when I arrived.

I voting because kids in inner city Detroit and rural Appalachia and in the rubble of Gaza matter as much to me as the ones sleeping in the room next to mine.

I’m voting because billions of people who showed up here before me fought and worked and suffered and lost and bled and died so that I could have a voice, and I refuse to squander it.

I’m not voting for a politician or party I believe to be without flaw or fault, but for ones that will lead wisely, seek the common good, craft compromise, and navigate the turbulent waters of consequence with steady hands.

I’m not voting because the system is perfect but because working through that imperfect system is better than the alternative of not giving myself a place at the table at all or rendering myself silent.

I’m not voting to force my beliefs on anyone else but to make sure no one has to experience such things at anyone else’s hands.

I voting my heart and my faith and my intellect and my conscience.

I’m not voting to make America great again. 

I voting to celebrate its goodness and the possibility of it being better.

I voting to be part of that better.

And after voting, I’m going to do my best to live that way.

Why are you voting?