I'm feeling alone lately. I've come out as gay to my family, some of my friends, and some of my relatives. However, I'm still not openly gay. I'm going through a transitional process of figuring out what it means to be gay after identifying as straight for many years. I was raised Catholic, and coming out hasn't changed that. I have identified as a Republican ever since I started paying attention to politics many years ago, and coming out hasn't changed that either. I voted for Hillary, but not because I'm suddenly a Democrat now. I just didn't think Trump had the temperament to be president. I'm feeling upset because many of my friends are liberal, and my Facebook has been exploding ever since the election with statements about how Trump and Pence are going to destroy LGBT rights. A lot of my friends despise Republicans, and my LGBT friends have particularly negative views of Republicans. One of my friends ridiculed me for being a gay Republican a while ago, and back when I was considering voting for Trump, one of my other friends became very hostile and made me feel like an idiot for even considering it because she alleged that Trump hated gay people. Although I am gay and would like to be accepted for being gay, I also think diversity of opinions is important in a functioning society. I've noticed that many people in the LGBT community are inclined to shut down the views of Republicans and people of faith who may not see eye-to-eye with them on various political issues, but particularly on the issue of LGBT rights. I think this is actually one of the reasons that it took me so long to come out to myself. I could not at all identify with LGBT people who sought to demonize Christians and Republicans for simply having a different worldview. And as a conservative Catholic myself, I felt that I was being targeted by that type of demonization. So...like I said, I feel alone. Can anyone relate to this?
I can't really relate, sorry. I am a liberal atheist, so I'm like the polar opposite of you in religion and politics. However, I am an extremely accepting person, and I applaud you for following your convictions and being brave enough to stand firm for what you believe. You have every right to your beliefs, and every right to practice your religion. I understand both sides of this dilemma. As a conservative Catholic, I'm sure you must be able to see why so many in the LGBT community take issue with this. The conservative arm of the Republican party, as well as most religions (Catholic being a particular one) take a negative view of LGBT issues. Every anti-gay piece of legislation harms those in our community, and every sermon on the sins we commit by our natural love drives so many of us away from the church. But it isn't just that it's a different "worldview." We aren't talking about the differences in trade policies, or the differences in economic strategies. The Christian and conservative Republican stances on LGBT rights are often that we should not have rights. Why wouldn't I be inclined to strongly oppose those who think I am a second-class citizen and should not have the same rights as anyone else? Not only do they think I shouldn't be allowed to marry, but that it should be perfectly fine for people to discriminate against me for being gay. I do support your right to your beliefs. I also support my right to strongly oppose your beliefs.
Thanks for considering my point of view, and I respect yours as well. I think there is a misperception among the LGBT community that all churches preach anti-gay sermons. I have been going to a Catholic church ever since I was a kid, and I can't remember a single anti-gay sermon. I have heard sermons that are anti-sex in general, but I can only vaguely recall hearing such sermons every once in a while. Most of the sermons have been about the importance of prayer and caring for one another, etc. I can understand your opposition to Republican anti-gay policies, as well, but I have observed that many Republicans are starting to embrace the gay community. I just feel kind of empty, I guess. Because I feel like I'm destined to not be able to fully relate to anyone on either end of the political spectrum or in my Catholic faith. It's kind of devastating, to be honest...not to be dramatic or anything haha.
Being a "Gay Catholic Conservative Republican" is quite the bag of troubles, I agree. Ultimately, you should just work on being you. We say to people a lot on this site that you cannot control the opinions, feelings, or thoughts of others, nor are you responsible for them. If you find comfort in your religion, and find compatibility in your political ideology, then stop worrying about what other people think. Some will agree with you, some won't. Being true to yourself is the only thing that matters. Take care. ride:
Thanks, I appreciate that. At the risk of sounding pathetic, I just feel like a lot of people don't like me for me. A lot of that probably stems from the years of homophobia I endured from my parents as well as some friends and relatives. But I think it's sort of been an insult to injury thing where some of my pro-gay friends have made me feel stupid or naive for still retaining the Catholic and Republican parts of my identity. I keep trying to fit in and it just seems like it's not gonna happen.
I can relate as, so far I have came out as questioning. It wasn't until late September did I really start considering the fact that I like the same gender. It has been hard for me but I learned a lot about myself. I like feel that people don't like me. They don't have to say a word to me because I can sense it. I can feel people's emotions. My feelings of being unwanted stems from the years of verbal and emotional abuse I endured from my mother. I never thought that I would vote democratic. I have my reasons why I voted for Hillary. I just felt Trump was too short tempered.
I can understand what your saying Honestly I'm more of an out queer, and a closet Christian... I was just reading to about a lesbian Catholic um I think priest is the word Anyways, its important that people have something to identify with I'm working on a project, well i'm trying to, including to set up a safe space for christian LGBTs. It's coming along but not ready for the general public yet.. feel free to drop me a line on my wall or something if you'd like to chat Personally, i often feel i didn't fit in with a lot of LGBTs becuase i'm not much of a bar person.... its rough sometimes, since its where a lot of us gather.... i think gay republicans are called LOG cabin republicans? perhaps you would find that helpful. But I definitely encourage you to tap into LGBT Christian stuff
@Shasta: I'm sorry about what you had to go through with your mother, but I'm glad you're now able to realize who you really are. It's a difficult feeling, but I hope it is also something of a relief for you as well. (*hug*) In addition to the fact that I recently came out, I have had severe anxiety issues for many years. It's something that I have always hidden from most of my friends, because when a couple of my friends observed the anxiety issues firsthand in the past, they ridiculed me and I felt totally rejected. It's hard for me to be social -- I envision myself hanging out with my friends, but then I think about what would happen if I had an anxiety episode while they were around and I can't deal with the possibility of that kind of humiliation again. So it's just hard. Lately I feel like I'm not trying hard enough to be social, but I guess I'm just too scared of getting hurt. So I find myself doing a lot of binge-watching TV shows with my parents, which...is probably not healthy, but it's how I get through things. @falconfalcon: Cool, thanks for letting me know about that!
