Why I use a pseudonym

For almost ten years I’ve felt safe sharing my political views using my given name. I had a political blog and shared my posts on Facebook and Twitter. I love to engage in political debate and discourse — especially with people who have a different point of view. Earlier this year I realized that it wasn’t going to be possible to continue using my real name.

I began losing friends and business when they learned I planned to support Donald Trump. That was bad enough, but I started to get death threats. I didn’t take them seriously at first, but eventually I received a credible threat that scared me. The threat was specific and included a picture of my house.

Since then I’ve deleted my social accounts and my personal blog. I joined Medium using a combination of pseudonyms from two of the contributors to the Federalist Papers. I stand by my opinions and will continue to write, but the atmosphere against Trump is untenable. I hope things will calm down after the election and we can all get back to normal — sharing our opinions without fear of violence.