I love fall, the cooler temperatures, the shorter days, the vivid colors of red, orange, and yellow that glow in the sun. Even the smell of pumpkin spice (which I’ll admit I’m not a fan) signals the transition from summer to fall. My neighbors Halloween lawn decorations and carved pumpkins already sit on porches. The routines of the season feel familiar, almost comforting, but this year, something is very different.

I see the decorations, the changing leaves, the return of warm sweaters and comforting soups and I think everything’s the same. It’s not. The world around us is shifting, and not in ways that feel safe or hopeful. It’s tempting to believe that the challenges facing our Trans siblings in the military, or immigrant communities in our cities, are isolated events, but they’re not. When anyone’s rights are under attack, all of our freedoms are at risk.

This year, I published my debut novel, Racing Hearts. This feat should’ve been a celebration, instead, it felt like stepping into one of the most tense, fear-filled environments in recent memory. The negative political narrative surrounding LGBTQIA+ rights, freedom of expression, and even the right to write and read certain books is alarming. Book bans. Cancelled Pride events. Conferences threatened. Fear has taken up space in places where creativity and community used to live. This fear has penetrated our lives and it’s exhausting.

But even in the fear and fatigue, there is FIRE. There is resistance. There is strength in the community.

I think of the generations that came before us. Those who fought for our rights to love who we love, to marry who we choose, to live our truth. They faced hatred, silencing, violence, prison time, yet they kept showing up. So must we! These photos at the Stonewall Inn in NYC and outside the LGBTQ Center in Long Beach remind me of that. Of how powerful it is to show up, to stand together and say:

No, you will not ban what we write or read!
No, you will not tell us who we can be!
No, you will not silence our stories!

Yes, change is scary, especially in these uncertain times. We have a strong community built over decades, and it’s time to pull from that courage to meet today’s challenges. We have to fight censorship and false narratives to continue our freedom to write, read, and love without apology.