Kenni Willow is encouraging everyone she knows to vote for Kamala Harris this November.

“This is not an ordinary election,” said Willow, a freshman Nursing student. “[Former President Donald Trump] is so much more open now about his plans for literal fascism. It disgusts me that so many people in the media, as well as regular people, are so unconcerned about it.”

Willow is personally motivated to vote for Harris this year to protect her rights as an LGBTQ+ woman.

“There’s a lot to it,” she said. “Politics is something that I think should be important to you no matter who you are, no matter if it affects you or not personally. 

“I’m a queer and trans person,” Willow said. “LGBTQ+ rights have been a big thing in politics for the past few years, and it is disgusting to see what red states, including Indiana, have been doing. That’s my biggest motivator to vote in this election.”

Willow wants every student to take this election as seriously as she does. She wants to elect more Democrats to lower levels of government.

“I’m not just telling you to vote, I’m telling you to vote for Harris,” she said. “Vote for Democrats at the local level, especially in red and swing states. Jennifer McCormick is running for governor in Indiana. I know she probably won’t be elected, but it is still important for our voices to be heard. Anything can happen.”

Willow is so worried that she will not be safe if Trump is re-elected that she has devised a plan to flee the country, for fear that she may face persecution.

“It is my plan to try to stay because it’s not an easy thing to uproot your life,” said Wllow. “I do have money saved up, and I have friends in other countries that could help me integrate. 

“My real goal is, if I do end up having to leave the U.S. because he starts implementing horrible laws like I’m expecting, I would probably go to Thailand,” she said. “They’re very forward right now with LGBTQ+ rights, and I feel like I could be safe there.”