I understand that. But God DOES want me. And despite the fact that it may not have the most accurate interpretation of gays in the world, I still honestly believe that God works in many wonderful ways through the Church.

I would not go that far - but I do think the RCC does a bunch of good work and much of it selflessly, mostly due to the likes of Mother Theresa - but even she was called out for refusing to teach birth control in India, which lead to the death and suffering of millions of mothers and children.

Also, I think God wants everyone, but I just do not subscribe to organized religion though I do love the Episcopal Church I was reared in.

Legal Research is my most FAVORITE thing to do in the whole WORLD! also, I LOVE briefing cases! If I could do that all day I would! sigh....only law school grads get to do that now, unless you are really lucky.....at least in my neck of the woods that is (and that included the Bay Area)

Honey, you must have no life then! :lol: Just joking!

Now Corporate Law...THAT WAS FUN! Criminal Law...THAT WAS FUN! and Civil Litigation was pretty good too.

Gladly.

If it took you that long to realize such a thing, I can only wonder how long it's going to take you to wise up to the Republican party.

I'm sure they already know.

Regardless of our disagreements, I want you to know that I hope that you make it through the coming out process in a good place. It can be very scary, and you realize that the world you live in is not the place you always thought it was. Be prepared to lose a lot of relationships that you thought were as tough as iron. Also, be prepared to be pleasantly surprised by the unexpected wisdom in places where you least expected to find it.

I wake up every morning with the joy that I am gay. You should feel proud to be part of such a wonderful, diverse community.

Im gonna jump in here and say that there are so many similarities between the bias against Gays and the effort to return women to second class status.

Again, for anyone who is interested: The Republican War Against Women by Tanya Meilich (who is herself a Repub, tho maybe not NOW!)

Brandon, my heart goes out to you, you have so many good qualities, among which are your obvious loyalty. Good for you. And hang on to your faith in God and the knowledge that he loves you. Just as you ARE. He made you after all.

Thanks for the kind words!

Thanks! :xoxo: :D

I will make it through this...I know I will and come out a better person on the other side!

I know you like your labels, Brown Eyes. I know you love to be able to call yourself a Republican and a Catholic, and I've no doubt you'll soon get really into being Gay with a capital G. You like to have an institution or community to align yourself with so that you're not just standing out there alone with your beliefs or your identity. That's fine.

But take a second not to be offended by every mildly smart-ass remark that has been made in this thread, and you'll see a number of people have already tried to explain to you why it seems so paradoxical to label yourself a Gay Republican. Because even in the past five years the Republican party has repeatedly tried to prevent gays from obtaining equal rights, in addition to trying to strip them of some rights they already have. As a party and an institution, one of their goals is to maginalize, stigamtize and to a large extent criminalize homosexuality. You've said elsewhere that that's just "one issue." But if you are homosexual, I'd say that's one pretty damn big issue.

So you're a fiscal conservative? Fine. You believe in limited government? Great. That doesn't mean you have to align yourself with a party that is trying to criminalize your sexual identity. There's no reason for you to be loyal to such an institution. You can agree with them on economic and governmental issues and still oppose them vehemently when it comes to their vilifying your lifestyle.

Just get rid of the label and disassociate yourself from an institution that hates you. That doesn't mean you have to change any other of your political beliefs. It just means that you're admitting to yourself that this is not a party which has all the right answers, and not a party with which you can completely align yourself in good conscience.

Nothing wrong with having "NPA" printed on your voter registration card. It just means that you think for yourself.

And yeah, it's going to be really hard in the voting booth. Because the next time you're voting somebody into office, you might have to decide which is more important to you at that moment - your economic and political preferences, or your basic rights as a human being who happens to be gay. That choice is up to you, but odds are, in this two-party system, you're not going to be able to have it both ways. Good luck.

That's absolutely right.

But let me impart one small piece of wisdom... never be afraid to admit to yourself or to others that an ideal or opinion that you've had was misguided, or was formed without enough life experience for it to be a truly well-rounded viewpoint.

It's easy to let the "straight viewpoint" that surrounds us, color our own views of what's supposedly right and wrong. And it's easy to get so hung up on "saving face," that we refuse to ever admit we were wrong.

Beyond that, just live a life that you can be proud of... always try to do right by others and yourself, and stay open to new ideas and viewpoints while remaining true to what feels right to you.

It's a rough road with no map to make it easier to navigate, but you'll be fine.

Well said!!

Now that you know you're gay, Brandon, I hope you can think on how much that hurt me (and angered me) when you said it. Certainly we are all better than the worst things we've said and done, but it's still something to think on, IMO.

First of all that was not a comment I made. That was a comment a professor of mine made...sorry that it offended you so much. :( :sorry:

I know that it was a professor (I included that part so that I wouldn't be misrepresenting you) but you did agree at the time. That whole era, as you know, is full of extremely homophobic comments.

I know that you're sorry and I'm glad that you've come to see things differently, but it is a relatively quick and dramatic change, I think. Just an observation, not a condemnation. :shrug: