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Sophie Saint Thomas is a Brooklyn-based bisexual writer originally from the Virgin Islands. She has more than one David Bowie tattoo.
Sophie Saint Thomas is a Brooklyn-based bisexual writer originally from the Virgin Islands. She has more than one David Bowie tattoo.
So it happened. With Susan Collins breaking the hearts of anyone decent over the weekend, Brett Kavanaugh (a privileged, white frat boy accused of sexual assault by multiple women who can't string a sentence together other than "I like beer.") got a lifetime appointment as the nation's newest Supreme Court justice.
Maybe you're angrily Tweeting. Maybe you want to scream and then take a lot of drugs and have an orgy. Maybe you're even ready to grab your passport and drive to Canada without looking back. In any case, most Americans are very upset right now over the Kavanaugh confirmation and are looking for any way to keep their head up. Here are seven things you can do.
During times like these, where the government acts like they truly just don't give a fuck, it may be tempting to curl up on your couch like a ball. You're allowed to spend some time in the fetal position. However, if there's a protest near you, it's worth it to show up. There is power in numbers, and there is power in photographs. Even if a protest doesn't cause the Republican-lead Senate to change their minds, or get Kavanaugh out of office, the world, and the history books, will know how angry we are. And that is important.
Get your friends together. Cook and eat some food. Order delivery if you're feeling lazy, but don't spend this horrid moment in history alone. Surround yourself with friends to talk, and maybe even laugh. Although it might not feel like it, the world is not entirely evil, and your friends are there to prove it. So ask the organized one of your friend group to have some people over and chill with eats, drinks, and some weed if you please.
Register to vote. Go online and learn your state's voting laws, and if you aren't already, make sure that you're registered to vote. Even if it's too late to vote in the mid-terms, you'll be armed and ready for 2020. Do it right now.
Call your survivor friends to make sure they're okay. Call your friends who are allies to make sure they're speaking out. Call someone you love for yourself, to remind one another that you have each other's backs.
Don't worry PRIDE readers, I don't think you're anything like Brett Kavanaugh. But most of us, if we want to be really honest, at some point in our lives, have gotten drunk and said or done something that we shouldn't have and unintentionally hurt someone. Perhaps it took time and age for you to realize it, but apologies are powerful. In giving one, you acknowledge the other person's pain while taking off some of the weight you've been carrying. So if you've been waiting for the right moment to call up your friend and apologize for slut-shaming them in college, now is the time.
Proven by the fact that Trump is president and Kavanaugh stands as our next Supreme Court justice, not everyone in America has compassion towards women, minorities, and the LGBTQ+ community. You may find yourself faced with an idiot on the subway or Facebook, and this time, be unable to bite your tongue. So read up on him, what he's been accused of, and some of the many studies on the long-term effects of sexual assault, so the next time you're faced with a Republican dumb-dumb, you can shut them down with facts and science.
After you've educated yourself, made sure you're registered to vote, and gotten so angry you just want to leave the country and go get (consensually) laid somewhere beautiful, give yourself a break. Close your computer. Put down your phone. Take a break from social media and get outside, go exercise, spend time with friends, or anything that reminds you that there is still hope and good in the world—for the sake of your mental health.
