The Trump administration is trying to take the world back, not just to the Dark Ages when people were tortured to death for their beliefs, but to the Stone Age when Neanderthals with the heaviest clubs held the most power. Neanderthals commandeered fecund hunting grounds from weaker neighbors because they could. But when they came up against more organized, ordered, and civilized Homo Sapiens, they became extinct.

“If you ever doubt that you have people that love you, here’s proof.”

In tragedy and grief, sometimes the smallest details sear themselves in our minds. I can’t stop thinking about Renee Good’s knit cap. 

The LGBTQ community has long been defined by its fierce loyalty to the underdog. We rally for the kid bullied at school, the artist rejected by the mainstream, the candidate counted out before the race even begins. We know what it feels like to be dismissed, silenced, underestimated — and that shared memory has fueled decades of activism, creativity, and cultural change. It is one of our greatest strengths.