As a black and queer man, I’m scared, but I will never stop fighting

Yesterday, I woke up like many people in this country: confused, sad, afraid. I woke up not wanting to believe the truth. But the truth is that the next president of the United States of America will be Donald J. Trump.

We’ve fought for more than a year to protect our country from this disaster and yet here we are.

The new President-elect and many of his most prominent supporters have targeted, demeaned, and threatened millions of us — and millions of our friends, family, and loved ones. People like me, a black, queer 22-year-old, who grew up in poverty and has been fighting to build his American dream.

Or people like my partner, a gender-nonconforming man who Vice President-elect Mike Pence would like to see subjected to electroshock therapy to rid him of his true love and expression.

Both chambers of Congress remain in Republican hands; our next Supreme Court justices are likely to be chosen by the President-elect and with them the threat of an end to abortion, marriage equality, and health care to name a few of the monumental issues at hand.

We are entering a time of unprecedented danger for our communities and our country. So yes, this morning I and millions of others woke up afraid. But I am no longer afraid. I am confident in the resilience of my country and of the people who make it great. I am confident that though hate has won this battle, we will never allow it to win in the end.

In this moment, we have to take care of ourselves, our families, and our friends—especially those of us who are on the front lines facing hate, including Latinos, women, immigrants, refugees, Black people, Muslims, LGBT Americans, and so many others.

And we need to make it clear that we will continue to stand together and fight for our lives and our futures.

And I will never stop fighting.

I will never stop fighting to keep my right to marry the man of my dreams.

I will never stop fighting to end the deep-seated Islamophobia that has run rampant in this country for far too long.

I will never stop fighting for Black lives.

I will never stop fighting for immigrants’ rights to the American dream.

I will never stop fighting to level the economic playing field.

I will never stop fighting to ensure that no young person has to be like me and skip a college education because of their inability to pay.

I will never stop fighting for equality of the genders, including women and trans people.

I will never never stop fighting — and to the more than 250 million Americans who did not choose Trump, you better not either.

I was proud to say #ImWithHer and support Hillary Clinton, and now I’m even prouder to say #ImWithYou, the people of this country, because it’s you — it’s we the people — who will continue to build a country that is great for all us.

Benjamin O’Keefe is a 22 year old senior producer for MoveOn.org. Openly queer, coming from poverty and representing many marginalized communities, he has fought his whole life to tear down oppression. He produced and wrote the script for MoveOn’s Alicia Keys #VoteLove video and produced the #UnitedAgainstHate letter with over 100 celebrities standing against Trump’s “values”.” You can find him on Twitter @benjaminokeefe or Facebook.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.