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Schuyler Bailar: Dear President Trump

By Schuyler Bailar
January 20, 2017

Dear President Trump,

You probably don’t know who I am,

But I stand for everything that scares the shit out of you.

My mother is an immigrant,

I am a mixed-race child,

My best friend is a gay woman,

And I am a transgender man.

Schuyler Bailar – Photo: Todd Franson

You probably think this means I am the opposite of you,

The antithesis.

But I, too, am a son,

A brother.

I, too, have a mother, a father.

You have fought your entire life to be a leader,

To stand tall and proud of yourself and what you believe in.

So have I.

I spent the morning wondering what I would do if your administration

Took away My Rights.

Would I still be able to go to school?

To compete on my swim team as a transgender athlete?

To go to the bathroom in peace?

Maybe.

But maybe not.

Still, I know that we,

The beaten down, the marginalized —

The people of color, the LGBTQ community, women, disabled people,

Muslims, immigrants —

The list goes on,

We have fought for decades, centuries, even,

For our right to live peacefully and truthfully.

From emancipation,

To women’s suffrage,

To Martin Luther King, Jr.,

To the Stonewall Riots,

And the marriage equality act,

We have always, somehow, lived through to today.

And each and every one of us is living proof that our survival is possible.

We are here today.

And we will be here tomorrow.

So let’s work on making America Great.

Not “Again,”

Because there is no part of American history

To which any black person would want to return,

In which any queer person would care to live,

During which any woman would feel free,

So, not “Again.”

But simply: Make America Great.

Because, Mr. President,

You have the power to change the world.

And you have already started.

And it is up to you

To lead this country to greatness.

Because we will never stop fighting for our Life, our Liberty and our pursuit of Happiness.

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We will never step down.

We are headstrong and proud,

Just like you.

So we will not hide.

This is not a time

To be small,

To turn our heads in shame or cower in fear.

This, Mr. President of the United States of America,

Is a time when to stand tall and united, in our stubborn pride,

And grow together.

Schuyler Bailar

First Men’s NCAA D1 Transgender Athlete
Harvard University
@pinkmantaray on Instagram
@sb_pinkmantaray on Twitter

Read more Letters to Trump:

The opinions expressed in these letters are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations and this magazine, its staff and contributors.

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