First, let’s get this out of the way: not all conservative people support the Republican party in 2022. There are people who have conservative values fiscally, socially, or culturally, and still understand the danger that the Republican Party poses right now. This column is not for those people.
No, this column is for people like the members of the Log Cabin Republicans in Texas. The group was recently barred from appearing at the Texas Republican Party Convention last weekend, and they complained on Twitter about how “narrow-minded” and “politically short-sighted” the decision was. On the latter, Log Cabin couldn’t be more wrong. Them being excluded isn’t “politically short-sighted.” In fact, targeting the LGBTQ community — even LGBTQ Republicans themselves — is working well for the Republican party right now. It’s keeping a lot of voters angry, and angry voters are much more likely to vote. The political calculus does not work in Log Cabin’s favor. Then again, it never has.
The Texas GOP recently took the position that homosexuality is “abnormal.” Yet Log Cabin still wants to be a part of it. Such cultivated self-hatred is pitiable. Any gay person who wants to readily join a group that thinks them “abnormal” doesn’t care for our community or, to be honest, themselves. Is such self-hatred necessary for a gay person to survive in an unfriendly environment? Perhaps. But when their actions negatively affect other people, the hatred is no longer confined to just themselves. At that point, they are spreading hate too.
Which do you think is worse: an LGBTQ person who supports Trump and the Big Lie, or a conservative person who believes that supporters of the Big Lie are a danger to our country and will vote against them in the election?
Of course, the answer depends on what metric you use. Right now, sadly, the most important metric anybody should be using is: which person is going to ensure our country continues to run as a democracy? Here’s a hint: it’s not the LGBTQ person.
Yes, there probably are LGBTQ people who might not believe the Big Lie but still choose to vote Republican. And in this case, their personal opinions make no difference; they’re still supporting people who, by virtue of their political party alone, accept the overthrow of the government. They’re still supporting people who acquiesced to, or cheered on, or took part in, an attempted coup. LGBTQ people who continue to vote Republican are actively seeking to undermine freedom in the United States. There’s no other way to spin it. If you support Trump and those who back him, you support the attempted coup of our government.
To those LGBTQ people who say that the Democratic Party is out of touch with their values, to the LGBTQ people who say that they’re tired of political correctness and the focal shift to other members of the community, to the LGBTQ people who say “the Democratic Party is not who I am,” to those people, hear this: Put your ego and your privilege away. Lock it in a box. And don’t open it until measures are taken to ensure another attempted coup cannot happen again. It might be a while, or it might be forever. But that is what you should do.
Politics is about who lives and who dies. That phrase has taken on another dimension since January 6th, 2021. Now, the number of people who will live or die depending on politics has grown astronomically. Now, the number of people who live or die depending on politics includes the wealthy and the well-connected. Now, the number of people who live or die depending on politics includes people, like LGBTQ Republicans, who had the luxury of voting for whoever they wanted without having their lives upended.
If you’re still able to vote for Republicans and not have your life potentially be ruined — whether through legislation or through mob rule — you are among the most privileged people not just in this country, but in the world. And if you have that much privilege, then you need to use it to help people. You can start by leaving the Republican Party behind. There is no place for you there anymore. That time is gone, and it’s not coming back.