“The whole place feels like wildfire.”

June 16, 2024 10:17 AM

The Lonely, Resolute Path of Oklahoma Lesiglator Mauree Turner (slWaPo) "Being the nation’s first Black, Muslim, nonbinary state lawmaker, let alone the first in Oklahoma, was never going to be easy."
posted by box (4 comments total)

“At the end of the day, we’re human,” he says. “We have limited mental and emotional capacity.”
This is Turner’s dilemma.

They have way, way more capacity than I do, mentally, emotionally and in every other way. I would have broken down and given up long ago. I hope their presence will make it at least a tiny bit easier for the next person who seeks to represent people who are currently not only unrepresented but targeted for hate.
posted by dg at 4:53 PM on June 16

What a great American and Oklahoman they are. I'm not in their district, but I wish I had a more compassionate representative.
posted by dragonplayer at 5:13 AM on June 17

Mauree is an amazing human being. I'm grateful for their work, and so sorry for the suffering the other legislators and other specific hateful people have put them through.

I hope they can have the space to rest and recover while they deal with two difficult health diagnoses.

Sometimes I'm sad I don't have deep roots somewhere, but... it also sounds so painful to have deep roots in a place where you're in danger just for being yourself.

(And I honestly had no clue that HIV was criminalized, let alone in so many states. Jesus christ.)
posted by cnidaria at 7:05 PM on June 17

This just made me sad all around, especially the double diagnosis.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:37 PM on June 19