There have been interesting parallels between our class discussions around queer crip time and my current life. This has only become more obvious post election as I scramble to rework my five-year plan. I am not sure how much to share because while I am a very open person there are some aspects of my life that I prefer to keep private.

My partner and I are both chronically ill and bisexual. We are in a heterosexual pairing but, for a number of reasons, are at times visibly queer. We have been together for a while now and discuss our future as something that exists in tandem. We also struggle with the issue that we are two people that have careers and both probably need to go to grad school so figuring out a plan that involves never being long distance again is already very difficult.

We planned on moving in a few years in order for at least one of us to begin graduate school. A plan that is now up in the air for many reasons. First, I may have to start graduate school sooner than expected because this election may shift funding streams in a way that I won’t be able to find a job in my field. Second, we need to think more critically about where we can move to that will allow us to be safe and also provide adequate universities. Third, he has a stable job that seems less appealing to leave in such an unstable political environment.

Our conversations are ongoing but watching our timelines shift out of fear of politics is unnerving and incredibly depressing. We are both citizens of this country; he is even white, yet we are aware that there will be more and more places added to the list of states we cannot visit in the coming year. If Trump is reelected in four years we will have to have similar conversations about how to have a family in a world where that might no longer be safe. My timeline is not only disrupted but so incredibly uncertain.