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The One Thing I'd Say To Donald Trump

by Rachel Krantz

June 26, 2016

When I thought about the questions I wanted to ask people attending the New York City Pride Parade on Sunday, I couldn't resist getting a little political. Among other things, I wanted to know: what would Pride attendees like to say to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump? While I expected that most people in attendance might not be fans of his, what I didn't expect was that I wouldn't be able to find one person who didn't have a negative opinion of him that bordered on complete vitriol.

I get it. Trump is no LGBTQ or civil rights advocate, and I personally think he deserves most of the things said to him below. But clearly, a year after the celebration of marriage equality in 2015, there seems to be less of a "Love Wins" spirit in the air, and, understandably, more of a "Screw Anyone Who Hates" vibe dominating. After all, Trump appeared to many of us to attempt to capitalize on the Orlando Massacre when he said in a statement, "I said this was going to happen — and it is only going to get worse,” arguing that Hillary Clinton would allow “hundreds of thousands” more Middle East immigrants, and that “we will have no way to screen them, pay for them, or prevent the second generation from radicalizing.”

Regardless of their particular reasons, what I will say is that nearly every person I went up to at NYC Pride and asked the question, "If you could say one thing to Donald Trump, what would it be?" had the same response: "F*ck You Trump." After awhile, I had to ask people to rephrase and be more specific, lest that literally be every single answer. It is sad to see hate, no matter how "justified," breeding more hate.