First They Came for the Drag Queens

September 2023

First they came for the drag queens

And I didn’t speak up

Because I didn’t understand their ‘lifestyle.’

Then they came for the transgender kids

And I didn’t speak up

Because I didn’t understand their medical needs.

Then they came for the books

And the librarians and teachers who taught them

And I didn’t speak up

Because I wasn’t really into reading anyway

Then they came for the universities

And the public school boards

And tried to make them exclude anyone

Who wasn’t straight, wasn’t White, 

Or wasn’t their ‘brand’ of Christian.

But I didn’t speak up

Because I never liked school anyway.

Then they came for the journalists

They bought up all the newspapers

And closed them

And replaced them

With their own channels and websites

With their own ‘commentary’

And I didn’t speak up

Because I never paid much attention to news anyway

Then they came for the churches

And any pastor who dared to preach

‘Love your neighbor’

And fired them

And replaced them

With preachers 

Who would say whatever was needed

To keep a comfortable paycheck

And I didn’t speak up

Because these new celebrity preachers

Had higher production values

They came for the Immigrants

And I didn’t speak up

Because they told us welcoming them

Would take something away from us

Instead of adding more to who we are

They came for the Muslims

And I didn’t speak up

Because I believed them 

When they said these were the enemy

They came for the Jews

And I didn’t speak up

Because I believed them

When they said the Holocaust wasn’t real

They came for the Black people

They called them criminals, dangerous

Even the ones in preschool

Hauling them away in police cars

Beating them on the side of the road

Leaving them to die in the alleys

And I believed them

Because police are always here to help, right?

They came for the Native Americans

And I didn’t speak up

Because they told me they had

Plenty of money from the casinos and 

Nobody else to blame for their problems anymore.

They came for the women

Denied us our futures

Denied us protection from our abusers

Denied us accountability for our rapists

Denied us the ability to keep our children safe

While we worked to pursue our own talents and dreams

And so we slowly began to disappear again

Silenced like everyone else

Just like they always wanted.