Coming Out: I Am A Conservative
By Kitty Levine
I started getting these ‘feelings’ when I was a freshman in college. As with most people, it was a time of experimentation and intellectual stimulation. I would spend late nights with all of my friends smoking hookah and getting drunk until sunrise. We would discuss everything under the sun.
Politics were a hot topic during these late night discussions. The 2008 elections were right around the corner and George W. Bush jokes were a big hit. We would delve into healthcare, international relations, and economic policies. This is when I first noticed that maybe… I was a little different from all of my friends. All of their political preferences just didn’t appeal to me.
Ever since I was old enough to have the capacity to think in a political context, I considered myself a liberal. I am pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and pro-marijuana. Those were the only issues I thought mattered. Sure, there was something contradictory nagging me at the back of my mind, but I was too embarrassed and uninformed to acknowledge its presence.
In the past several years my knowledge base has grown from severe political unawareness to only slight political unawareness. I support the decision to send troops over to the Middle East. I don’t think a national healthcare program will be at all functional. I also happen to believe in strong state governments and weak federal government. My social stance on most issues still remains relatively liberal, but when it comes to everything else, I tip heavily to the right.
I have known that I am undoubtedly a conservative for some time now, but I still find myself shrinking in shame anytime something remotely political is brought up. People assume that because I listen to the same music, read the same books, and dress the way they do, I believe in the same political ideology. I’m done living a lie! Conservatives exist among us 20-somethings, and it’s time that we’re accepted for what we are. It’s time we break free of the stereotypes the Republican Party, Sarah Palin, Fox News, the Tea Party, and Confederate flag lovers have imposed upon us. It is time we stop living in the closet.
I’m not trying to convince anyone to believe the way I do. I’m not that politically active, and don’t ever seek a political debate. I’m just asking the majority of my peers, who happen to be liberal, not to completely dismiss my point of view due to it’s connotations. I promise I’m not contagious. I just want to let my freak flag fly.