I Said I'd Leave the Country If Trump Won — But Here's Why I Won't

When Donald Trump became our Republican nominee, I told my husband he better be ready to move out of the country. I threw around some ideas — we have family in Sweden, Australia seems like an easy place for an American to make a home, and Canada is right there. He couldn't quite tell if I was serious, but the more I talked about it, he realized that I was.

The divisive rhetoric of Donald Trump's campaign got to me. He got to me. How could someone say so many disparaging things about immigrants, refugees, Muslims, women, the LGBT community, and people with disabilities and still be in the running?

After electing our first black president, legalizing gay marriage, and making so much progress, how could we take this giant step backwards? It didn't seem possible — and if it was, this wasn't somewhere I wanted to call home.

And then Nov. 8 happened. I stared in disbelief as states turned red, but after the madness subsided, I realized: I am PROUD to be an American. I may not be proud in this moment, but I am proud of the progress we've made in the last eight years.

America is my home. But this election has also opened my eyes to the fact that America is not the home I thought it was. The home it has been to me is not the home it has been to many minority communities, but I want to help make it so. So I have to stay and I have to change. I can no longer be complacent. I can no longer be satisfied with making a donation and using a hashtag. America needs me to stay because there is so much work to do, and I'm ready to do it. I hope that you'll join me by donating to and volunteering for organizations that support human rights, by getting more involved in politics at any level, and by treating people with love, respect, and dignity.