Also, 2018, 2019, somewhere in there, I showed up to the Center to spend time with Mama Wendy. She promptly took me over to the double pane windows, pulled the blinds back, and showed me a few bullet holes. The bullets penetrated the first pane, but not the second. The same shooter tried to target the Ottawa County Dems, located a few doors down from us.
Between December 2019 and August 2020, I was visible in Out On the Lakeshore's efforts to get sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression added to Holland's non-discrimination ordinance. August 19, at least 5 people opposed threatened direct violence on my community and those opposed who didn't threaten violence screamed all sorts of hateful rhetoric towards my community. I was pleased the ordinance passed 8-1, but holy hell, I feel I left that night soaked in blood, but victorious. The wounds healed from that night, but the scars remain.
Before the election in November 2020, two visibly queer friends of mine had their home targeted in Allendale. They have a trans flag out front and had Biden/Harris signs in the yard; their window was shot out, but they were unharmed.
And what so many people don't understand is the rhetoric coming from the President's Twitter directly contributes to acts like these. When he said "stand back and stand by," many of us were afraid for legitimate reasons.
