Be Scared

Unless you've been living under a rock, and a rock with no wifi or 3G signal, you know it's one hell of a time to be alive in the world. Sure, DOMA has been overturned, but all's not exactly honky dory in the world:

• Texas has handed women a great, big "fuck you."  
• A Florida jury has decided shooting an unarmed black kid sounds like self-defense, and
• Russia has made my very existence illegal.

Last week, all of this upset me. A lot. I'm usually a pretty tough customer,  and I rarely take things to heart, but enough is enough because:

• I'm a woman. 
• I'm of mixed race.
• I'm a lesbian. 

On account of who I am and how I live my life, this crap, all at once, hit a little too close to home. For a couple of days, I chose to just unplug and avoid the Internet, except for the occasional private message. I was that upset. And, when I say "upset," I mean both angry AND hurt. I have to admit it: I was feeling really, fucking injured.

And then, this morning, I saw this, and it changed everything. It made me angry. And I felt injured for a moment. And then I laughed. I laughed at the the world because:

• I'm a woman.
• I'm of mixed race.
• I'm a lesbian.
• I'm Puerto Rican.

In short, I pose more of threat to close-minded,  shaking-in-their boots redneck assholes than anyone else I can think of. Not just in Texas or Florida, but globally. Even Russia is afraid of me. And guess what, motherfuckers? I'm all of those things AND I'm a U.S. citizen by birth (as all Puerto Ricans are, you idiots) and I never, ever miss an opportunity to vote. I am your worst fucking nightmare come true: a mixed race, hispanic lesbian who is well-educated, articulate, and politically active.  To add insult to injury, I'm from Brooklyn. Not the Brooklyn of whiney, privileged Lena Dunham. The Brooklyn of Azimov and Auden, Basquiat and Chisolm, Dershowitz and Fierstein. The Brooklyn of Ruth Bader Ginsberg.  And, in case you haven't noticed? I never shut the fuck up.

Scared yet? You should be. We're legion.