I voted.

I voted for people with pre-existings, I voted for the rights of women, for the protection of freedom of the press, for faith that loves all and respects the dignity of every human being.

I voted for compassion and empathy. I voted for refugees and immigrants, especially those locked up in detention centers and those separated from children and parents.

I voted for people of all religions, not just Christianity, for people of no religion, for people of color and for the LGBTQ community.

I voted for teachers and for students and for higher education that encourages people to think critically and seek to understand that which differs from their experiences. I voted for the arts and humanities, for science and literature and public broadcasting and strong, safe public schools.

I voted for criminal justice reform and for reasoned gun control.

I voted for the protection of the environment, for clean water and air and in acknowledgment of the climate change that is putting us all in danger, and especially putting the poorest peoples among us in danger, from wildfires, storms, rising seas, species extinction, crop loss and deadly viruses. I voted for a response to a pandemic that is honest and focuses on all people and listens to doctors and infectious disease experts.

I voted for government that cares about the people more than it cares about power and profit, that listens and learns and places people in positions of stewardship and responsibility who do not have profit-driven agendas.

I voted for the continuation of democracy and human rights, because I believe those things have been under attack under this administration and we may lose them if we do not stop normalizing and enabling the cruelty, mismanagement and dishonesty of the past four years.

First posted on Facebook, October 7, 2020.