This post was archived from Medium.

I’m shocked. I’m afraid of the world I’ve woken up into. I’m sure a billion people will write a trillion words about this, and mine aren’t worth anything in particular, but I feel like I have to say something anyway. A racist, sexist, homophobic nationalist has just been given the most powerful position on the planet. It’s still hard to believe that it’s actually come to this.

My hands are shaking right now and my heart is pounding. I’m saddened for women who’ve had the chance for the first female president replaced with being ruled by a man who openly admits to sexual assault. I’m scared for LGBT people, whose enemies will be legitimised by a vice president who supports conversion therapy. I’m scared for people of religious and racial minorities, the hatred of whom is now acceptable in the USA. But this doesn’t just affect the US; this result will reinforce the populist xenophobic attitudes which have been spreading across western world. Shit, I’m scared for the planet, whose most powerful leader will believe that climate change is a hoax.

It’s so hard to even imagine how the next few months will go, but it is clear that we will be more divided than ever. But after everything that’s happened this year, we can’t let hate win. We need each other. And we need to hold on to our rights and our freedoms harder than ever. No matter what it takes, we can’t let hate win.