I am a queer woman of color, working in the rural counties of my beautiful State of Oregon. Each day since the American election, I’ve witnessed the immediate impact of the dehumanizing rhetoric  utilized and normalized by the Trump administration. The fear and apprehension in the eyes of our children; children of color, LGBTQIA+ youth, girls, individuals with disabilities and those from immigrant families, who are now left completely vulnerable. They are being subjected to increasing violence, as we are seeing an immediate rise in bullying, sexual assault and subsequent rise in suicidality. Our communities now experience a horrifying normalization of a culture of violence against anyone who is not seen as a Trump supporter or White Christian Nationalist. 

Our fears are not without basis. During the previous administration under Trump, hate crimes and violence against women spiked immensely particularly targeting people of color, immigrants, women and LGBTQIA+ communities. There was no substantial protection in place, thus rendering our lives prey to these crimes. This threat rose to even greater significance at the promise of use of military force against any American citizens who do not agree with Trumps ideas, further validating these dangers and fear. 

Therefore, it seems imperative that we seek merger with a more embracing nation to ensure our safety and rights. We propose categorically that Oregon and Washington seek secession from the United States, annexing instead to Canada post the 2024 elections. Canada's explicit protections for minority rights as well as its global reputation for respect and inclusivity make it a logical choice for our States.

Our plea is a matter of life and death. We urge you - our sisters, brothers, friends, and allies - to sign this petition. Together, we can demonstrate our unity, strength, and commitment to the safety of all in our community.

Hate crime increase directly relating to Trump Presidency Research:

The Effect of President Trump's Election on Hate Crimes
 

Griffin Sims Edwards
University of Alabama at Birmingham - Department of Marketing, Industrial Distribution & Economics

Stephen Rushin
Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Abstract
This Essay empirically evaluates the relationship between Donald Trump’s rise to power and the recent increase in reported hate crimes. A number of critics predicted that President Trump’s divisive rhetoric during the presidential campaign and his subsequent election would embolden hate crime perpetrators, thereby contributing to more hate crimes. Media commentators have dubbed this the Trump Effect.

We find compelling evidence to support the Trump Effect hypothesis. Using time series analysis, we show that Donald Trump’s election in November of 2016 was associated with a statistically significant surge in reported hate crimes across the United States, even when controlling for alternative explanations. Further, by using panel regression techniques, we show that counties that voted for President Trump by the widest margins in the presidential election also experienced the largest increases in reported hate crimes. 

Using the data from this study, we offer a novel theory that builds on the existing literature on the causes of hate crimes. We hypothesize that it was not just Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric throughout the political campaign that caused hate crimes to increase. Rather, we argue that it was Trump’s subsequent election as President of the United States that validated this rhetoric in the eyes of perpetrators and fueled the hate crime surge.24 PagesPosted: 18 Jan 2018Last revised: 31 Jan 2019,Date Written: January 14, 2018

Additional Research:

Authors Ashley Jardina, Spencer Piston,

Trickle-down racism: Trump's effect on whites’ racist dehumanizing attitudes,
Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology,
Volume 5,
2023,
100158,
ISSN 2666-6227,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2023.100158
(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666622723000710
Abstract: Reported hate crimes against Black people surged following Trump's election. While only a relatively small fraction of Americans committed these abhorrent actions, we show that Trump's victory had broader effects on the attitudes of the larger white public. Specifically, Trump altered the extent to which white survey respondents describe Black people in dehumanizing ways. We report findings from a two-wave national survey in which white respondents rated Black people on a dehumanizing attitudes scale before and after the 2016 presidential election. Trump supporters rated Black people as less "evolved” in the post-election wave than they rated Black people in the pre-election wave. Conversely, Trump opponents rated Black people as more "evolved" in the post-election wave than in the pre-election wave. These findings suggest Trump's victory had a polarizing effect on whites' expression of dehumanizing views of Black people, with important implications for scholars' understanding of the sociopolitical factors that can affect dehumanizing attitudes and the normalization of racism in the U.S. today.
Keywords: Dehumanization; Prejudice; Attitudes