By Joanie Juster—
Well, October was one hell of a month. Between the midterms and the Valkyries, my blood pressure was at an all-time high throughout last month.
Over the past few months, we have witnessed the best and the worst of human behavior. Politicians, desperate to cling to power, showed just how low they were willing to go to gain their objectives. While dirty politics are nothing new, what stood out this year was the sheer brazenness of their ambition.
They no longer even try to hide their ugliness, openly embracing their racism, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, and utter lack of concern for anyone who isn’t wealthy, white, and privileged. And this ugliness isn’t going to go away overnight. It takes far more than one election, or one regime change, to steer an entire culture away from its worst instincts. Just look at Germany: after decades of reckoning with the damage caused by the Third Reich, they are still dealing with pockets of fascism rising.
And this ugliness wasn’t just happening here in the U.S. Around the world, fascism and authoritarianism have been on the rise, and many areas of the world are particularly dangerous for LGBTQ+ people. Dozens of countries impose fines, prison sentences, and even the death sentence upon those suspected of homosexual activity. And, here at home, the ACLU is tracking anti-LGBTQ+ bills in every state—531 at the latest count. These bills are an attack on the life, liberty, and personal safety of LGBTQ+ people everywhere, but are particularly heavily weighted toward attacking transgender people.
But … you know all this already. And I’m willing to bet you know the antidote as well. In contrast to ugliness and hate, we are seeing good-hearted people rising up in massive numbers to counter the hatred, the division, and the lies. The millions of people who rose up in Hungary, Serbia, and Brazil to fight for democracy give us hope, and confidence that, ultimately, people have more power than billionaires. We are seeing people in big cities and rural outposts showing up time and again to speak out at school board meetings and town halls, to march in the streets, fight ICE, and defend their neighbors.
For many years we have marched, protested, made signs, and raised our voices together. We have demanded that our elected representatives be held accountable to the people they represent. We have joined together to fight for our democracy. And we will continue to do so. Over and over and over again we have demanded, “Show me what democracy looks like!”
Looking at the work we have done together, I say the answer is, “This is what democracy looks like.”
Joanie Juster is a long-time community volunteer, activist, and ally.
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Published on November 5, 2026
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