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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
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You know you have no idea how right you probably are. I guess I have always felt the need to feel a part of some community and to label myself something. I suppose it sort of made me feel safe and protected. I guess I have just always clung to whatever came along (which I guess makes me somewhat pathetic)...I don't even really know who exactly I am anymore. I don't know what I stand for or why exactly this path has been chosen for me. But I suppose that mystery is a gift from God, I know that somewhere, somehow, and someday I will make be able to sort out all of this and find out WHO I AM and not just identify myself with whoever/whatever I associate myself with.
Perhaps I should just give up caring about politics all together and just concentrate on the one thing I know...love.