I Don’t Want To Engage In This Election. But As A Gay Black Woman I Have No Choice

Can you imagine waking up one day and deciding, “today I am done with politics”? 

You stop tracking what’s happening in the news. You unfollow anyone who posts about it. You dismiss your political friends  (if you even have any) . You read, you go to the theatre, maybe you even pick up a new hobby. You feel no threat ,  no existential dread. Besides illness or random freak accidents, you know your family will be fine. Life is good.

If I could, I would choose to shut politics in a box never to be seen again. Contrary to what you might expect of someone with my background, I don’t enjoy politics. I hate talking about it, and I hate how much I talk about it. But I don’t have a choice. As a bisexual, Black woman with ongoing mental health issues and a concern for the future of our planet, my very existence is political. 

One breakdown of the Labour and Conservative manifestos gives a tally of how many times certain topics vital to young voters like me – mental health, LGBTQ+ issues, inequality and climate change – were mentioned. Labour mention these key topics 88 times, compared to the Conservatives’ disconcerting total of just thirteen. A Guardian analysis found the Conservatives mention our climate crisis ten times, despite it being rated as one of the most pressing issues by voters. The Liberal Democrats and Labour, on the other hand, referred to the climate crisis 59 times.