If You Weren't Gay, How Many of You would be Republicans?

If you weren't gay, you wouldn't be you. So how can you know who would you vote or anything at all. Stupid question

All Republicans are Pedophiles.

Canadian and unlikely to become American during my life so far.

My parent(al units) are small c, frequent Conservative voters. They basically accepted me, are secular, believe there are appropriate uses of taxation, and are at least simply multicultural. On the other hand, they're not at all into or supportive of any activism that would stick out in a community, range from musing about religion to at least temporarily attending Church again, complain frequently about their taxes, and don't take much care to learn anything about other cultures that they don't immediately need to. So that influence, and living rural, and Catholic school, etc, would suggest I'd lean right.

But I think that I perhaps would just be less strident about certain left-associated beliefs. I'm anti-theist, albeit polite about it, but maybe I'd be more apathetic about it. I'm always at least vaguely socialist, sometimes more than vaguely, while always giving credit to positive outcomes of capitalism, but maybe I'd go more with whatever status quo is around me. I'm always at least a casual promoter of any leftist social activism (yes even T, you horrible trolls) and at most just lightly critique methods, but maybe I'd be the blandest of allies if straight.

Political compass tests put me at very (not extremely) left, and somewhat libertarian in it. If I weren't gay, I think I might be more centrist and/or moderate (I consider centrism as a degree of *attachment* to being 'moderate', to point of ideological formation), and I'd probably go down some conservative holes on some views, but I can't shake the idea that I wouldn't actually *be* a conservative, let alone go to America and join the Republicans. What's more concerning is the factor of being in my rural area vs moving to the city.. half for sake of following my boyfriend. But then again, my hometown area went from early-00s generally passive basic tolerance or hostility to gay people, to late-10s attempts at small scale pride parades to pull in LGBT and supporters from a radius of 10s of kms. Stuff like that starts to convince me that I'd be fine, albeit more comfortable in my non-activist personal inclinations.

My parents hate Trump and starting this year have started to express a vocal concern about the integrity of the USA and its elections, by the way. There's a chance that even they would be just more conservative Democrats than whatever has been happening to the Republicans.

They're reptilian.

I've actually thought about this before, as most of my classmates in the shitty town I grew up in became Repubs. Then again my straight brother is a liberal Democrat, so I'd probably be more like him.

It depends on how you were raised I suppose. It would be very easy for those raised in a Republican household not to question it.

But I think you have to divorce yourself from reason and discussion in order to maintain that sensibility, particularly if you went to college or university.

My parents were more centrist/liberal, but they grew up in big cities and were of a time when you didn't raise your religion or religious beliefs in public. My aunt was very liberal but somehow got sucked in with Fox News and voted Republican. No one could ever figure that out.

Being gay is what made me move out of my shitty small town and gain wider world perspectives so it's one of the main things that has directly influenced my political leanings. Had I stayed back, married by 20 like everyone I left behind, I'd probably be a republicunt.

From the outside it would appear that that there is only one party, two sides of the same corrupt coin.

I also like money but I have a soul.

40 years ago (pre-Reagan) there were still "socially liberal/fiscally conservative" Republicans.

But the party has shifted so far to the right that you really need to be a fascist and a racist to be a Republican these days.

I have news for you, the Democrats aren’t our friends either. One has to look no further than the presidential primary process earlier this year. The treatment of Pete Buttigieg by the left was downright homophobic at times. It really opened my eyes to the Democrats. It made me decide o move my party affiliation to Independent.

Don’t get me wrong, I am voting for Biden, there is no way I want four more years of the orange turd. However, my eyes are open.

I'm firmly with R4 on the matter. After performing the fMRIs on conservatives, and Republicans, it's been determined their brains light up quite differently. Republicans reacted with more anger showing in given brain regions, and generally seemed to be consumed by burning activity in the fear related portions of their brains.

Liberals, and part-affiliated democrats had much more activity and blood flow in the brain regions responsible for empathy, and much less motivated by fear. Overall, their reactions to certain pictures didn't necessarily differ with race, gender, or perceived socioeconomic status, whereas conservatives (mostly Republicans) only expressed sympathy, empathy or identification with people portrayed similar to them.

This just confirms much of what many of us gather from our own empirical evidence dealing with these people in our personal lives.

^ party affiliated

My desire to suck dick only slightly outweighs the thrill I get thinking about raping the environment, denying sick people healthcare, locking up black people and bombing brown people.

Lots of Republicans (especially those married to Asian women) are closeted. Now I will be F&F'd for being racist just like I was a few weeks ago for saying I don't find Asian men attractive, but I am not. Some of my best friends are Asian and their rice dishes are ro die for....

I would be fat and dead from heart attack in a whiteflight suburb if I was straight. My civic “Aha!” moments have occurred because my gayness set me on a very lucky path.

I’m a lazyminded bigot and so many great people have gently educated me to the point where I am just so much better than you that I feel an obligation to care for you and your chins and your fears of fit people who don’t navigate drivethroughs.

R12 - I know of the studies you speak of, but that means that empathy can't be learned. How do we grow understanding and empathy? By trying to put ourselves into others' shoes and interacting with others and listening to how they perceive or were hurt by a situation.

Those that live in a bubble, which is a large percentage of the population, may not seek out or have those perspectives or ideas challenged to develop empathy.

I don't think it is purely how we are hard-wired except for sociopaths.

[quote]From the outside it would appear that that there is only one party, two sides of the same corrupt coin.

"Both parties are the same" hasn't been a thing since the 90s

I’m a moderate Democrat. In the past (pre-Trump), I considered supporting my GOP congressman because he’s a moderate and has done some great things for our district. Has never promoted social conservative bullshit. But I could never bring myself to vote for him because doing so would support the greater GOP structure, which was disgusting enough before Trump.

Since Trump, there’s no fucking way I’d consider voting for any Republican. I don’t care at this point if a GOP candidate comes out against Trump. Every goddamn one of them is complicit in this disaster. The GOP needs to be destroyed on Nov 3.

I am a decent, moral person with empathy. Republican politicians are immoral, hypocritical narcissists.

Privatized healthcare and other essential services coupled with zero environmental awareness? Fuck that shit.

Not now, because of Trump and his enablers, and since many of those people will still be remaining in government once he's gone and running for the next 20+ years, I'll most likely be a Democrat my whole life.

But as a white man with a large amount of inherited wealth, it is always a thought in my mind to switch to the Republican party particularly as Democrats move to increase the capital gains tax. I think in another 10-20 years we'll have moved far enough on gay rights that I could vote solely based on my wallet and have a clear conscience that I wasn't selling myself/my people out for a quick buck, depending on the make-up of the Supreme Court.

Their economic model demands subsidies from 90% of workers.

anyone else?

Our oppressors don't deserve empathy. They deserve retaliatory oppression. It's time to start openly calling for it.

No because, although I admit to having lapses in intelligence and judgement and am far from perfect, I am not THAT stupid.

Over my dead hypothetically hetero body

I have always voted for whom ever was a good candidate for me and my community. I have voted both parties. But my party is Independent. And even if I wasn't gay, I would hope that I would be a person that voted for progressive candidates . R11 I agree with. you. R15 That means Moscow Mitch is gay! But it would take a real angry queen to do some of the things he has done.

Even if all I cared about was the economy, I'd still be voting for Democratic candidates. The Republican solution for everything is tax cuts. The economy is in the shitter? Tax cuts to stimulate the economy! The economy is booming? Tax cuts since revenue is up! The economy is in the middle? Tax cuts because why not?!

We have a century of data that indicates that the economy does better under Democratic Presidents.

[quote]"Both parties are the same" hasn't been a thing since the 90s

They do keep trying, though, R18. Usually, the people parroting that line are extreme libertarians or extreme Bernie Bros and it's because they are focusing on just one or two issues.

Anyone who can claim that "both parties are the same" must have slept through the Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump years.