On September 12, the Houston chapter of Refuse Fascism did “Bridge Blogging”–on a busy street that passes over one of the most congested freeways at rush hour. This was in response to the Call for actions this week from Refuse Fascism.
We held up signs to the traffic below saying “Trump/Pence Must Go!” and “PROTEST–Sat, 9/15, 11 am Fed’l Bldg, 515 Rusk”. One person wore a handmaid costume. Another one stood on a small pillar facing the traffic on the street above with a very large Trump/Pence must Go sign. We got lots of honks and thumbs up from the drivers and passengers, and, of course, a few nasty responses.
At one point, a group of high school students saw us from the street and parked their car and came over for a little while. They were literally thrilled to find a group that was actively working to drive out the regime. They were gonna post this on social media and left with flyers and buttons and said that they were gonna take this up at their school, where they said there are a significant number of Trump supporters. Here’s what a couple of them had to say:
“We stopped because we saw that you were protesting the Trump/Pence administration and we can really get behind that. We’re all multi-cultural, multi-racial LGBTQ members and we all have something to say about this administration and their bullying policies and their policies on LGBTQ rights. We all have a voice, and for us it was hard to voice, but seeing you guys really is inspiring us to do so much more. We know now that there are outlets and channels for us to really say what we have to say–and be heard.
And I think it’s important for the youth to really understand that you do have a voice–that there are places for you to go–stand up, say what you need to say and really show this administration that we refuse to be bullied. Anyone that denies us our rights…We’re Americans, we have rights. Immigrants have rights. Children have rights. Everyone has rights, that are inalienable, and are just so basic. It’s unimaginable how somebody could be so cruel and so corrupt as to try to strip people of their rights and violate their rights so vehemently that people are literally willing to die for this cause and that’s something that resonates with the youth, something that people can get behind and support. That’s why
we stopped.”
One student told Refuse Fascism actiists that Trump needs to be driven out of office. While he didn’t know how to define what is going on, like he wasn’t sure if it was fascist because he didn’t know exactly what that means, he did see that “everything is getting switched up”… “nothing’s the same” under Trump. For example he said that he was stopped by the police and given a $1000 ticket for a first offense. And said that his friends are also getting pulled over. Before, they would get let go, but “Ever since Trump’s come into office, police have become stricter, everything’s been locked down, the government’s more on to us–like we don’t have our freedom like we used to. And we all deserve to be free. This is America–its the great melting pot–not like a pot of straight licorice.”
He also said that since Trump doesn’t respect LGBTQ rights, that as a gay person, “I find that very offensive–like I’m still a human being, like at the end of the day I’m not like another type of species…”
He went on to say that he didn’t believe that the people actually put this guy into office–the government did. But the people are the majority. “And being the majority we need to do something to change that, and we are now, and I hope in the near future, real soon, that he gets kicked out of office and everything gets better…”