In many ways Donald Trump is the ultimate drag artist, a larger than life version of himself, who is as exaggerated as he is entertaining. Is Donald a good thing for America? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some good that comes out of it. Anyone living in Toronto just has to think back to our experience with Rob Ford to be assured of the rainbow (albeit a tiny one) waiting for us inside the clouds of the Trump presidency.

Trump galvanized a lot of votes, people who hadn’t voted in years, because he knew lots of Americans felt disillusioned about the current system. In Toronto, Rob Ford did the same thing, and it also worked like a charm in getting them both elected. I feel lucky to have lived through Rob Ford’s mayoral life in Toronto, because as a city we collectively woke up and suddenly realized that many of the things we had been taking for granted, were now under serious threat. We not only survived in Ford’s wake, we thrived.

THREE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF HIS PRESIDENCY:

#1 COMMUNITY BUILDING
The U.S. Supreme court will now be Conservative. This means the LGBT community’s ideas will be under fire. Even though that sounds like bad news, the upside is that the LGBT community will have an unprecedented opportunity for growth. When Rob Ford was elected Mayor of Toronto one of his first priorities was the elimination of Pride funding, which not only backfired, it galvanized and reinvigorated our community.

#2 INCREASED FOCUS ON HEALTHCARE
Often when new legislation is enacted a set of unintended consequences will appear. For example, Trump wants to repeal Obamacare, but since he can’t just take away coverage from 20 million people without offering an alternative system, he has to come up with one. This means Democrats, and for the first time ever, Republicans will be focused on healthcare.

#3 THE BEACHES (IN MEXICO)
With the news of the Trump presidency, the Mexican Peso dipped to a recent all time low. Now is a great time for all North American’s to band together and migrate down South and wait to see what happens next.

About the Author

Raymond Helkio is an author, director filmmaker, and graduate of Ontario College of Art & Design. He currently lives in both Toronto and New York. His most recent play, LEDUC, is now available in paperback. www.raymondhelkio.com