I woke up this morning, like many of you, shocked, saddened, terrified.  To say that this morning has been difficult for me would be the biggest understatement I’ve ever made.  I feel like someone close to me has died.  The reality is this: the next four years are going to be extremely difficult for those of us in the queer community, for those who are of a non-white color, for those who worship a minority religion.  I woke up without hope, wanting to not even get out of bed.  And based on what I saw on my social media feeds last night, I think many of you feel the same way.

For a while after finding out the news, I was ready to give up.  I actually wrote a full post for this blog where I said that I was simply too depressed to continue working on this site.  When the reality that my loving partner and I would be losing many of the rights we had fought for in the coming year set in, I felt broken.

BUT here’s the thing.  It’s no big secret that I write about Disney A LOT and that my passion for the Walt Disney Company is what has gotten me this far.  I’ve gotten to know a lot of you and I know we don’t all agree on everything, but despite the fact that so many of us come from different countries, different backgrounds, different religions, sexual orientations and families, we still manage to find this commonality.  We still have this deep love for this mouse who reminds us that dreams can, and do come true.

So that gives me hope.  Hope that despite the very obvious reality that I am living in a VERY divided country, I am also still living in a country AND WORLD where people can still find commonality.  Sure, there is a lot of hate in the world.  And the fight against it is going to be one of the hardest we’ve ever fought.  But when you go to Disney World and you see every color of the rainbow with their families in the parks, and you watch the fireworks show, the feeling that is bringing everyone, every completely different person their, together is not hate, it’s love.  It’s magic.  It’s the belief that dreams come true.

The next four years are going to be rough.  I won’t sugar coat it.  Many of my fellow queer people will probably lose many of the rights that we were so proud to gain these past four years.  But, as Disney has taught us, “The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.”  We are going to fight back.  We are strong together.  Our voice is still heard.  The thing about progress is that, despite setbacks here and there, progress is inevitable.  That’s just the way that things are.  I know some of us, myself included, looked at this morning and saw the worst the world could be.  I told my mom that the next holocaust is around the corner.  But that’s not true.  We’re a different world.  Information and the way it is communicated now is different.  We are different.

I am not saying it will be easy.  We are going to have to fight for everything we hold dear.  But sometimes the fight makes us relish those things more than we ever thought we could.  The only thing that makes that fight seem terrifying and frightening is to think that you are alone in it.  Looking at all that red on the map last night, I certainly felt like I was alone.  BUT we aren’t.  We have each other.  I’ve got you!  We are a family.  And like any strong family, we will be stronger in time of crisis.

No one knows what tomorrow will be bring.  No one knows what January will bring.  Things are certainly going to be different.  But whatever it brings, no matter who you are or where you’re from or who you love, we are going to do it just like we watch those fireworks at the end of a long day of riding rides and watching parades.  We are going to do it together with love in our hearts, sad that today is over, but ready for whatever tomorrow will bring.