This isn’t a political post.

I’ve learned fairly quickly in the last few years that politics is just one of those topics lots of people lose their mind over. Best friends start to argue, and strangers on the internet start calling each other idiots.

With that said, I hope this is the very last time I write the name Donald Trump on this site.

I do not like the guy. He’s uncouth, wildly unprepared, egotistical, and hasn’t really built much of a platform beyond being racist, crass, sexist, and the list goes on.

Donald is in the news again, but this is hardly new. This time a video was released of him talking “locker room talk” about how he doesn’t even wait; he’ll force himself upon women. I’m gonna let you go read more if you want because I do not want to repeat all that he said and filth up my blog any more than I have.

Life warning: it’s creepy and soul-crushing.

The Facebook debates rage on. If any kind of organization posts about it, people cry out that they shouldn’t force politics down people’s throats. “But the Clintons, they did worse!” “Emails! The emails!”

No. Stop right there.

This is not about politics. It is occurring in that context, so maybe that’s why people are confused. But if we make this about Trump vs. Clinton, we are missing the point. Again.

This is about a man who said it is okay to force yourself on women if you’re powerful enough. You don’t come to that attitude over night, and it doesn’t just go away.

I’ve met a few guys like Donald. Guys who touch or grab or kiss when they’re not wanted. Guys who think it’s a game when a girl says no or just don’t care. Guys who yelled at me, called me names when I rejected their advances.

It’s not locker room talk. It’s not boys being boys.

This isn’t just about Donald. It’s about all of us.

By derailing the conversation to scream about what Hillary has done, we are YET AGAIN ignoring the heart of this issue. We are YET AGAIN denying survivors their right to speak and to be heard. We are saying YET AGAIN that those wounds don’t matter.

They do.

Different stats say different things, and really, numbers don’t always have the same impact. Think of it this way: if you have friends, have a job, go to school, or have siblings or children (male or female), you most likely know someone who has been a victim of sexual harassment, catcalling, or sexual assault. Maybe they speak openly about it, but most sexual assaults (97%) go unreported and then the trauma is often shoved down into a deep corner of themselves, so you may not even know.

Or maybe they heard it’s just locker room talk, boys will be boys, so they’re afraid to speak up.

When things like this happen and we make justifications for him, we are saying to those survivors, to our young people, that this behaviour and way of talking is okay. Is that really the legacy we are going to leave?

This is a chance, a chance we’ve missed many times before. I can’t even be begin to list the names of every rapist given a light sentence or none at all, but every day, I read about a new one and I want to crawl under my desk and cry. That doesn’t even begin to account for the many, many more that will never be reported, never see a courtroom, never spend a day in jail. If I think about that too long, I want to hide and never come out. I’ve had enough.

This is a chance to put politics aside and say “We do not allow this. This is not okay.” Not to further an agenda but to say to survivors, “You are safe here.

We hear you, we believe you, and this is not okay.”

This is a chance to put politics aside and say to our sons, “This is not how men talk. This is not how you treat women.” This is a chance to say to our daughters, “If someone talks to you like that or disrespects you or makes you feel uncomfortable, tell me. I will believe you and I will protect you.”

What Donald Trump said isn’t bad because he’s running for President. It’s bad, horrible, heartbreaking, alarming, and infuriating because he is a human being who should know better.

Its time we put politics aside. It’s not about politics. It’s about people.