Earlier today, Glenn Reynolds linked Jeff Carter’s post, Out of The Closet Conservative in A Democratic City. If we changed just words and substituted our own anecdotes, we could use the balance of his post to describe our own experiences as gay conservatives.
Living in the Windy City, Carter finds
. . . that there are very few true blue Democrats in Chicago. It’s just that the machine is established in the Democratic Party and inertia pushes them that way. So many people make so much money off the machine, you just can’t change it. But, there are enough hard core true believing Democrats around to keep the ship sailing straight.
And so it is within the gay community. Substitute “Gay Inc” for “the machine” and you realize many gay people support HRC and vote Democratic not because of genuine appreciation for the work said organization does or enthusiastic support for the political party it backs, but because of inertia. They’re just signing on to the cause and the political party their peers support. This inertia more than anything defines the voting habits of many gay people. To be sure, there are also enough hard care true believing gay Democrats to toe the line for their party and maintain the pretense of a caring political party.
When Carter comes out as a conservative to his Chicago peers, he often encounters the same types of reaction we get when we come out to our gay peers:
When people find out that I am a conservative, there are three reactions. One, they can’t believe it and think I am kidding them, but then talk to me and we become friends. The second is abject horror, they sort of tolerate me but behind my back they insult me. The third is they start pigeon holing me into the most radical of conservative classes.
It’s always fascinating to me that liberal Democrats are supposed to be all accepting, and the live and let live party. However, in practice I find they are less tolerant, and want to tell and direct everyone more than the right wing Christian conservatives they love to pillory.
Many times at cocktail parties, my wife and I are introduced as “they’re conservatives but they are okay”, or “our favorite Republicans”, or “the only Republicans I know”.
I do have some very good friends that are pretty liberal and they are accepting of me. We actually have a lot of common ground on some things. We get together and have a good time, but I wonder how they would feel if they were in the minority?
Read the whole thing.
FROM THE COMMENTS: Ted B. (Charging Rhino) observes:
Like the HRC, most gay Liberals just go through the motions without any self-examination, finding comfort in their familiar political rituals; denial, finger-pointing and demonization.
Indeed.
I have many friends like this. I try not to get into fights with them, because that doesn’t work. I just tell them they’re too smart to believe the crapola they’re being fed. And they are.
This very morning, I rode to church with a friend who admitted what a do-nothing and a disappointment Obama has been — but says he’s voting for him anyway. I had to fight the temptation to open a can on him, because I really do like him. But it’s tooth-grindingly frustrating trying to get through to people like this.
Inertia explains it, I guess. That, and the fact that they never listen to anybody but MSNBC and whatever Air America is calling itself this week.
The sad thing is how politics are dividing us in our real lives. I have a handful of friends who aren’t very political but of course consider themselves to be good liberals. They know I’m not, sometimes they will ask a question but we simply don’t talk politics. (Israel is different, I have no anti Israel friends, I don’t need that)
They respect me enough to behave the way their mothers taught them – so many others out there – have completely lost the ability to be civil.
Back when Reagan was President, I was actually spat-upon on my local gay bar once for supporting the GOP position on some-issue-or-other. Things haven’t changed much since them.
Like the HRC, most gay Liberals just go through the motions without any self-examination, finding comfort in their familiar political rituals; denial, finger-pointing and demonization.
I must admit, political frankness can be therapeutic. (Does that sound too leftist?)
My friend told me that Obama’s only problem (!) is that he “compromises too much.”
I didn’t tell him I wondered what universe he’s living in.
What I did tell him was that Obama is stunningly, spectacularly incompetent, as well as quite likely pathologically dishonest. That he has been, to this country, what Hurricane Katrina was to the Gulf Coast.
I’m sure he wonders what universe I’m living in. I’m just glad it isn’t his.
You know what frustrates me about liberals? They aren’t all idiotic shills like Levi. Sometimes, I’ll talk to self-described liberals and they can be reasonable. They recognize there has to be a balance between environmental protection and economic growth. They know that the public schools stink and competition would help. They know that the Government is out of control and on an unsustainable spending path and performs .
And then they turn around and vote for the same bunch of socialist idiots that let the EPA run amok, bend over and spread for the teacher’s unions, and vote for new programs to make the beast even bigger!!
Thanks for your link! I am glad that you were not offended by the words “coming out as a Conservative”. No doubt, you one up me! Conservative and Gay is an extremely small sample size!
Like me, the liberals I know want one token at the party-unless they are the chef. LOL.
Yup. Just try being gay and conservative here on the north side of Chicago. If it weren’t for the HIllbuzz boys, I’d swear I was the only one here. 😀
No, Jeff, not offended at all by your use of the expression, indeed, am delighted by it, reminds us of the many different ways one can come out, that is, when we self-identify as differing from our community’s norm.
BTW, conservative and gay is a much larger sample size that many acknowledge. It’s just that knowing the prejudices of our peers, most gay conservatives keep their politics to themselves. As I’m sure do many conservatives in Chicago!
Yet 22% of self-identifying G/L voters in 2004 voted for Bush/Cheney in the General Election. While that may be a small sample of the total electorate, It’s still at-least 1-in-5 gay voters who bothered to vote. What percentage of the vocal “gay bar Liberals” actually dragged their asses down to the polling station, stood in line, and actually cast ballots? How many of them ever bothered to register to vote?
I’ve actually lost “friends” over politics. Gay liberals are some of the absolute worst. It seems they can’t help themselves when the opportunity arrives to attack a conservative (or anyone else who strays from the herd). I was literally chased around a friends party one evening by a deranged, argumentative liberal and was later chastized by the hosts for discussing politics. The hosts sat idly by as their guest started an attack (and kept on until I’d discuss it) but took issue with me finally having enough and shutting him down. I just don’t bother with those types anymore. I refuse to waste time around people who think respect is reserved only for those who agree with them.
Ted, recall that 1-in-5 figure is based on people who identified themselves to exit pollsters as gay. Given the problems described in the post above, many gay conservatives may well have refused to respond when approached by a pollster after they voted.
Daniel Blatt,
“12.Ted, recall that 1-in-5 figure is based on people who identified themselves to exit pollsters as gay. Given the problems described in the post above, many gay conservatives may well have refused to respond when approached by a pollster after they voted.”
It’s my experience that most hetero’s don’t even know gay and lesbian conservatives exist. What’s more I’m not even sure how many gay conservatives know they are not alone. I know I’ve had to recommend this site and others to show a few gay conservatives they aren’t alone. That’s how pervasive the “Gay Inc” leftist idiot model seems to be in our society.
Many liberals can be sensible in a conversation up to the point where they feel a bit trapped and then they throw the switch and start throwing the most extreme charges against conservatism.
Cutting the budget means ending public education and letting granny eat cat food while treating her own broken back.
It is always amazing to me how very, very quickly liberals resort to switching topics, name calling, ignoring facts and making wild claims. The more used they are to “debating” conservatives, the earlier in the discussion they head away from having to defend the indefensible.
Being a conservative has a price. Liberals demand the ascendent political opinion ground. At some point, if you challenge too well, the liberal will shut you up by reactions, comments, looks, etc. that you would never employ. Like used car salesmen, liberals don’t always close the deal, but they will employ any means toward achieving their ends.
I have been surrounded by these people for a great part of my life. The most I have been able to do is to be a voice that other conservatives can hear and come to. Over the years, we have “depoliticized” some areas in our community and created a situation where liberals and conservatives can work together without hurting the liberal’s bank of emotions and the conservative’s principles. The key is to keep government funding and government micro management out of the picture as much as possible. Liberals and conservatives are pretty much alike when it comes to pouring soup and helping organize the food bank.