Don’t De-Friend Me; Just Don’t Vote

The run-up to an important election can be a trying time for friendships, especially for LGBTQ people who feel personally attacked when their friends vote for anti-equality candidates. Huff-Po is running a blog titled "Please De-Friend Me" which I think expresses a lot of our feelings during these times. This blow, however, is a bit different: Entitled "Please DON'T De-Friend Me", it's an open letter to a friend who is planning on voting for Romney... and well worth the read:

http://www.owldolatrous.com/?p=1962



• hm

• Well worth the read? I think not. That letter had ME thinking I should vote for Romney because of all the treacly sugar coated guilt bs that person (was it you?) put into the letter. Yuck!

• I like the Please de-friend me post better....

• No, it wasn't me, R2. And the point is to try and win over someone voting for Romney, and you get more flies with honey than vinegar. Obviously for someone who would never vote for Romney, it might sound too ... conciliatory. But you have to consider that if you come after someone with attacks, they're going to close down and dig their heels in. This is an appeal. And one I hope manages to change a few minds. Personally, it's nicer than I could ever be. I get way too emotional on this issue... I think Romney voters are ignorant morons. But it's nice to see someone try and not be agressively confrontational, and actually try to persuade.

• He is deluded if he thinks his str8 family friend cares about gay issues when he votes. I have close family members who are proud Rmoney supporters. They invite me into their homes all the time with my partner. But gay issues are NOT on their radar. I spend as little time as possible with them and never discuss politics because I couldn't change their minds any more than they could change mine. Louisiana will vote heavily for the repukes so changing his friend's vote won't matter a bit. It will still be a very red state.

• People don't care about things that they don't think affect them or anyone they know. Educating people that gay rights are human rights, and that it IS important even if you're not gay, and that it says a lot about the person they're voting for if they think your friends or family are "second class citizens"... this is never a bad thing. So what if changing one vote won't change the outcome in the state? I'm not sure that's the entire point. I mean, it would sure be nice... but how about just provking some thought? Get a dialog started? Engage the other side and win them over, over time, rather than just shutting yourself off from them and letting them stew in their ignorance, thus perpetuating it.

• What could anyone say to change your vote R6 and get you to vote for Romney? If you want to get into a huge argument over politics that will result in nothing positive, go right ahead.

• You're pretty cynical, R7. And, I think, missing the point. I'm voting For Obama/Against Romney, because I think and am knowledgable. People voting For Romney/Against Obama are misinformed in general, or just not thinking. It doesn't matter that there's nothing anyone could say to get me to vote for Romney over Obama. That's irrelevant, because the reversed situation is NOT the same.

• bump

• It's lovely, OP, but I don't know of a SINGLE REPUBLICAN who wold EVER bother to read anything reasonable, and fact-based! This sort of thing just doesn't resonate with them. Plus, it's longer than a bumper sticker. Nothing but shock and awe garbage can ever change their closed minds. De-friending assholes who are NOT your friends is much easier.

• indeed

• People who vote for a man who hates gay people, women, minorities, foreigners and the non-rich are not my friends. They are not my friends on Facebook. I'll defriend them if I damn well please and I always do when someone reveals themself to be a racist or a xenophobe or a misognist.

• I do think there is a category of people, though, that aren't really racist or homophobic or xenophobic or misogynist, who vote Republican out of just basic cluelessness, not paying attention, and habit. Those are the ones who, I think, can be reached. And I really think we should try, at every opportunity. Don't let their delusions cement themselves by allowing them to live in a bubble, untouched by reality, unexposed to arguments that disprove their chosen ideology. Don't let them believe that everyone thinks the way they do. Even if you can't win the argument with them specifically, it's still worth having for those around you that over-hear, and who might be more open-minded.

• voting day bump