A few weeks ago, singer Chappell Roan came under fire when she commented to The Guardian about not endorsing presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“I have so many issues with our government in every way,” Roan said. “There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There’s problems on both sides.”
After receiving criticism for this statement, with many accusing her of being divisive or not falling in line, she clarified her statement in a TikTok post.
“Fuck Trump, for fucking real, but fuck some of the shit that has gone down in the Democratic party that has failed people like me and you — and more so Palestine, and more so every marginalized community in the world,” she said. “So yeah — I’m voting for fucking Kamala, but I’m not settling for what has been offered, because that’s questionable.”
While Roan’s tone might be polarizing due to her bluntness and possible lack of media training, her message is still clear and highlights something many voters struggle to grasp: nuance.
It seems that most voters engage in a black-and-white “Democrats=good/Republicans=bad” mentality, but we need to recognize that there is a gray area. In January 2024, in New Hampshire, twelve Democrats joined Republicans to support a gender-affirming care ban, while four backed a bill allowing discrimination against trans individuals in school bathrooms, sports and prisons. Several other Democrats either abstained or were absent. Similarly, in 2022, Maryland Democrats withdrew their own bill to expand health-care coverage for trans people, despite holding a majority to pass it.
These actions understandably made members of the trans community feel betrayed by the very party they thought would protect them. Meanwhile, Republicans are taking even more dangerous steps. Project 2025 — which is backed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s Supreme Court — would enforce a binary view of gender and family, discriminate against LGBTQ+ individuals, and potentially separate so-called non-traditional families. Let’s also remember that the Supreme Court Trump put in place resulted in the overturning of Roe V. Wade and essentially legalizing LGBTQ+ discrimination during the 303 Creative LLC v. Aubrey Elenis case.
Roan may not necessarily be thrilled with voting for Harris but she still recognizes that Harris is the one who can get us closer to where we need to be. After all, Harris took many positive steps for the LGBTQ+ community. This dates back to her time as San Francisco district attorney when she established a hate crimes unit to examine crimes targeting LGBTQ+ youth. With this, Harris paved the way for California to become the first state to outlaw an LGBTQ+ panic defense.
While Roan understands the importance of nuance, I cannot say the same about a former friend of mine. I stopped speaking to this friend for many reasons, but one of the things I could never truly get over was his refusal to vote for Joe Biden (we stopped speaking before Harris was the Democratic nominee). He had many issues with Biden’s overall lack of progressive policies, which included signing a law providing billions in aid to Israel in the war against Gaza. The funny thing is that I understand why this friend was frustrated. It’s hard to see the party that you thought would protect us getting involved in funding a war, which is another nuanced topic that would make this column too long to get into. Due to this reason alone, he said he either wouldn’t vote at all or would choose a third-party candidate.
Yes, you’re probably saying “not voting or voting third party is a vote for Trump.” That may be true but my former friend is also a white, upper-class, cisgender male. Even if Trump wins, this person is not going to be affected. The people who will be affected are trans people, people of color, women and a whole host of marginalized individuals. Yes, war is horrible and we should care about the lives of innocent people but refusing to vote is going to harm people in our own backyard. And refusing to admit that is refusing to understand the concept of nuance.
Those who were critical of Roan don’t seem to understand that it is OK to be critical of our leaders. And those who refuse to vote are ignoring what’s at stake. This black-and-white way of thinking will help no one. When making a decision to vote come November, try to understand that no candidate is perfect. No one will check every single one of your boxes. But if you approach your voting with nuance, you can make big changes.