Should I be afraid?

Last week, a lone gunman shot and killed Charlie Kirk. I have nothing good to say about that man, but I abhor violence in all forms.

Since that killing, rather than trying to calm and unite the country, President Trump and his lackeys have been doing the opposite. They’re firmly blaming the left for violent rhetoric even those most shooters, including this one, are right-wing extremists. And it was Kirk himself, among many others, spouting violent rhetoric.

The backlash against those speaking against Kirk has been unprecedented. The administration is jumping on this as a moment to strike out against political opponents, blatantly violating the First Amendment and trying to punish those who speak their minds.

To be clear, the First Amendment protect citizens from punishment from the government over what they say. It doesn’t protect people from each other, businesses, or the media from exposing or criticizing what we say. But the government, including Trump and Vance, CANNOT punish people for what they say.

And yet, that’s exactly what they’re trying to do. They’re also riling up their base, calling for those critical of Kirk to be punished. They want us fired from our jobs, publicly ostracized, and even declared terrorists simply for speaking our minds.

Already, we live in a country where violence happens on the regular. Hardly a week goes by without a school shooting like the one that happened in Colorado on the same day that Kirk was shot. Two young Black men were found hanging from trees in Mississippi recently. Trans people, and trans women in particular, and still targeted regularly for violence.

As the temperature of this country keeps rising, am I safe? Are any of us safe? I’ve been writing about intersex and transgender people more here. I have an intersex memoir forthcoming next year. And I’ve been posting more regularly to social media, frequently talking about the political climate.

So, am I safe? Should I be afraid?

I don’t know if I can answer either question. I do feel like it’s getting harder and harder to live in this country without owning and knowing how to operate a gun. And I abhor guns.

What I do know is that I will not allow fear to silence me. This administration wants people like me to shut up and hide. But I refuse. We have to keep speaking up, keep protesting, keep voting. They trying to flood the zone with terror, and we have to flood it back with resistance and hope.