Not far from here in either time or space, there flies the Octavia Butler, a small spaceship crewed by three enterprising lesbians in search of something bigger than themselves. They live and work communally, down to the collective Diva cup boiling pot and regular slam poetry presentation.
This Friday, January 20, things are going to change. There are a lot of ways to react to and process about Donald Trump being inaugurated as the president of the United States. In and around Seattle, there are some specific, positive ways to feel like your voice is being heard.
I had a crush on my first girlfriend for roughly two years before I asked her out. Then, when she said yes, I promptly stopped talking to her until she broke up with me via another mutual friend. My first boyfriend and I, when we had his parents’ house entirely to ourselves, went up to his room and closed the door, so we could let his ferret out of his cage without worrying. We kissed once and only once; I broke up with him less than a week later. My most successful relationship was a long-distance flirtation via daily phone calls; years later, the girl asked me why we had never kissed. I had no answer.
I saw warnings of it on my Facebook feed leading up to election day. Friends of mine saying they were cutting out social media for their mental health, friends begging for company so they wouldn’t be alone, friends opening up about the very real pain and danger of a Trump presidency: they were scared they wouldn’t be able to resist suicidal thoughts.