Steven LaChance Blog

January 29, 2025

Dear Reader,

I’ve been struggling to write about anything other than the atrocities unfolding in the world right now. But nothing feels right—not even humor. There’s a part of me that wishes we could rewind to 2015, to a time when the weight of this chaos didn’t hang over us. But we can’t. And here we are.

A lot of joy has been drained from this world because of Trump. Whether you’re for him or against him, you have to admit: he hasn’t been good for this world. He hurts people. And what bothers me more than anything is how he brings out the worst in people. It’s hard to sit back and watch the hate spread without saying something. I know some might say, “It’s not my problem.” But here’s the thing: when people are hated, hurt, and marginalized, it becomes all of our problem.

I can’t bury my head in the sand and pretend this isn’t happening. As each day passes, I feel like I’m running out of places to go. Living in the U.S. has become an impossibility for me. I mourned that sense of betrayal and loss during his first term. Now, I see him trying to poison life here in Mexico with his hate. His unjust and cruel attacks against the Mexican people are fueling anti-American sentiment, and honestly, can you blame them?

As a gay man, I know what it feels like to be targeted. I feel it too. The Mexican people feel it, and I understand their distrust. In times like these, they have to assume that everyone from the U.S. is a Trump supporter. The crazy thing is, there are Trump supporters living here. How can they support him and his hate against the Mexican people while living among them? It’s mind-blowing to me.

Let’s talk about undocumented immigrants for a moment. There are roughly 1.6 million U.S. citizens living here in Mexico. Some, like us, contribute to society, pay taxes, and follow proper immigration procedures. However, it’s estimated that about a million U.S. citizens are living here illegally—close to 80% of the U.S. expat population in Mexico. And some of these undocumented U.S. citizens are Trump supporters. Mind-boggling, isn’t it?

I’m not sure what’s going to happen as we plan this last chapter of our lives. But I do know this: I will never live in the U.S. again. I will never put my faith in it again. Some Trump supporters might say, “Good riddance,” and honestly, that’s to be expected. Being part of the LGBTQ+ community, we are not welcome in our own country. When you think about it, we never really were. The only time the U.S. wants to treat us equally is when it comes to taxes. What if we, as an LGBTQ+ community, stopped paying our taxes out of protest? It’s a thought that crosses my mind during times like these. Why should we continue giving money to a system that looks down on us and treats us as “less than” at every other opportunity?

I know I’m not the only queer person feeling this way right now. The untold story is the large number of LGBTQ+ people leaving the U.S. because, once again, we can’t trust our government. 2015 felt like a false promise of equality—a rug laid out for us, only to be yanked away again. Any trust built in those moments is lost now. And that’s okay. We know this game because we’ve been playing it all our lives. We’re not going to forget the U.S.’s capacity to hate us and betray us. The truth is, “God Bless America” only applies to a privileged few. The queer community has no country. Not really.

I have some ideas about what my future might look like, and for now, I’m keeping those to myself. Time will tell how this all unfolds. But this is how I’m feeling at this moment.

Thank you for reading.

Blessings,
Steven