I’m looking for someone who can write an articulate piece about being trans and Republican. I really don’t understand it myself, so I’d like someone who would be willing to address themselves to left-leaning Democrats.
27 Replies to “Looking for a T Republican”
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Someone willing to be viciously attacked and torn to bloody ribbons? Good luck! 😉
Oops, I’m not trans though.
And not very articulate.
I could very easily not allow comments on their post, if that’s what the person wanted.
It makes more sense to me if a person is republican in a way that has nothing to do with them being trans. Even if I, big liberal that I am, can’t imagine how a person manages to separate that out.
I’m a woman who votes Democrat because the DNC has, generally speaking, provided & backed more progressive legislation for women, & for poorer people. I vote to my self-interests, like most people do, which is why i don’t understand voting Republican when you’re gay/trans/female.
I promise I will not respond in any way.
I don’t mind sharing why I understand the Republican party, but I have no desire to be flamed. It would make me cry. That’s the primary reason I don’t blog! OK, I’m more Libertarian than Dem or Repub, to be fair. But there are no Libertarian candidates handy right now. I can smoke, drink, curse like a sailor, have queer sex, be pro-choice, love punk rock, and STILL want a balanced budget and a strong military, something the Democrats historically don’t have a good record on – IMHO. I also want a smaller government, Dems wanted to regulate the hell out of everything, and people have more choices and more freedom if the government just stays the hell out. We only have two parties, and I have self-interests involved in both, so I’m torn.
The national debt is astronomical, so we obviously can’t fund every program for everything we want. It’s just not rational. That’s why the Repubs started pushing “faith-based” programs, because they want people to give on their own, according to their own consciences and fiscal abilities, and receive tax-credits for it – as opposed to forcing everyone to pay via taxes, for every program out there, regardless of whether it was something they wanted. If Dems insist on NOT raising taxes, they typically will move money around, often away from the military. Clinton closed bases during his tenure, including mine! =( And I do believe our military was weakened as a result. Our ecomony was great, though, huh? I served with a number of gay people who loved the military. Don’t even get me started on the whole “Support the troops, not the war” thing. I could post a diatribe on that.
Religious freedom goes both ways. We have to learn how to live together. Niether Dems or Repubs have got that right. I have no patience for that shit. Spirit-life is just as fluid and complicated as gender. I do not wish to see it regulated to death, and a smaller government, ideally, wouldn’t regulate it to death.
For the record, I believe evolution is a sign of God’s creativity. My atheist parents had a COW when I told them that. Well, maybe you are too. I’m not asking you to believe that. Some people like red wine, some like white, and who knows why. It just is. Don’t ask me why I said that. I really want wine right now. MmmmmmWine.
When I was married to the kids’ dad, we lived in a heavily Republican community, I saw a lot of generosity and sacrifice. People with a lot of money, giving away a lot of money. To the poor, to widows and to the infirm. Hitting the streets and giving out water, clothes, food to the homeless on a regular basis. Always opening their wallets when there was a need. I was a recipient of that generosity many times. And trust me, I did NOT look like a typical Christian, nor “act” like one. I think I was their eccentric poster child.
All that said, I’m still voting for Obama, I think he’s fabulous. But I also do NOT hate McCain or Palin. I can laugh at all the jokes, I’m not dead LOL, but I can’t make the jokes myself. I can’t laugh at McCain’s stiffness, he’s permanently disfigured from being Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition in a fucking POW camp, for fuck’s sake. I can’t make fun of Palin pooping out her fifth baby while on the job, and going back to work a few days later, I think she’s a kick-azz working mom whatever her politics. But yeah, I’ll laugh at someone else’s cracks. And I laugh at the Obama jokes too.
It’s hard to articulate your conscience, and even harder to politicize it. I don’t like being in a place where I hate a whole group of people based on a label. People are more complicated than that.
Don’t think this is what you were looking for, but I thought I’d share. I wrote some other thoughts in your Sarah Pailn blog post.
Going to get wine now, at Penrod!
I’m breaking my promise to say thank you. 🙂
VZ, what I would say is that you make good points regarding conservative vs liberal, but that the Republicans stopped being classicly conservative a long time ago.
Since I have been able to vote (in the late 80s) the only people I have been able to vote for who are fiscally conservative have been Democrats. The Republicans have done a better job of talking about it, but the Democrats have done a better job of actually doing it.
And having said that, I think a lot of people forget that there is a big difference between the national parties, and the parties in each local area. They are very different, and so making generalizations about a party tend to be really difficult. For example, here in Western Washington state, the Democrats are so entrenched that politicians who are pragmatic, and not particularly partisan end up becoming Democrats, because Republicans can’t be elected to anything. This means that the vast majority of the people who stay Republican are on the extreme edges of the party, and are very easy to ridicule. When I lived in Texas, the opposite was true. I think that a lot of us (including me) will forget that, and project our impressions of the local party politics onto the national party.
As I said, VZ.I love you…:)
Yeah..There’s Libertarian wings in both parties and they tend to be marginalized, even though they respresent the center better,IMHO. Thanks.
I actually donated to the McCain primary campaign. Seriously. And I registered Republican so I could vote for him in the primary, because he’d been my hero since at least 2000. Thinking about the federal debt (now approaching $10 trillion) literally keeps me up at night sometimes, and in years past, McCain has been the only high-profile politician who seemed to care.
Plus, McCain has honor that none of the other Republican primary candidates could touch. No Republican I can think of, actually. No torture, no immigrant-bashing, and (I think) only token nods to mandatory Republican gay-bashing.
Since he became the Republican nominee, though… ugh. The campaign junk mail they send us is not the worst I’ve seen, but I don’t like it. (Don’t worry, they’ve more than spent our donation in begging us for more.) I think his campaign has been taken over by party hacks. And, for whatever reason (too tired? change of heart? needs them too much?), McCain hasn’t reined them in. I hear him talking about tax cuts ( = “charge it to the kids”). I want McCain 2000 back. Can I write him in?
Tough election for me. Can I really vote against McCain now that he’s finally in the general election, like I’ve wanted for so long? But can I really vote against Obama?
I don’t think this qualifies for your “Republican” voice. A McCainiac, at least at one point.
I think there are a lot of us who are fiscal conservatives but Democrats. Just saying that wanting a balanced budget doesn’t make a person (or a politician) a Republican. Look at Dean’s record.
The part I don’t understand is your fellow travelers. You know, some (more extreme) democrats are too crunchy, too tax & spend, too wussy. But I’d prefer the error in that direction than the more extreme Republicans, who really just strike me as terrifically hateful. I don’t understand being queer or trans or (insert minority identity here) & being within a Party that seems to hate you. I just don’t get that.
I could write an article centered on being a life-long Republican and why I walked away, changing my party affiliation to democrat? I’ll oblige you tomorrow . . . but tonight? Sleep
Helen:
That’s just it. While you prefer accepting the negatives associated with Democrat philosophy more than the ones associated with that of the Republicans, I prefer the opposite. I don’t like the Republican attitude about sex, gender, and social issues. I support gay marriage, trans rights, working for a clean environment, and standing up for animals and the less fortunate. It doesn’t make me feel good when some republican tells me that I’m less-than-human because I don’t fit into the narrow definition of “family valuesâ€.
The problem is that in order to get this kind of progressive philosophy, I also have to embrace gun control, strong government intervention in the economy, almost limitless abortion, penalizing successful people by instituting overwhelming regulation and taxation, affirmative action, drastically increased government programs that have no requirement for results, straight out income redistribution, and further restrictions on how I’m supposed to live my life.
As far as a hateful attitude, perhaps it’s all in perception. I find too many liberals to be just as intolerant as the worst Southern bible thumper. Too many are smarmy, arrogant, and just as nasty and hateful as the conservatives. In fact, I’ve seen it in too many posts on this board. Further, I’ve seen lying, misrepresenting facts, and misleading voters from the left, just as I’ve seen it on the right.
I think it all comes down to the fact that for me, my own gender issues do not trump the other issues mentioned above. If fact, I’m not willing to turn America into a clone of a European socialist state in order to address my gender interests.
C
As one who is both a registered Republican and has voted for Democrats, I strongly believe my loyalty is based on certain philosophic ideas, and not on a basis of single issues or planks. It is more than a single issue or two, as is who I am. While my specific gender identity is a part of who I am, I am so much more than that. Republicanism has roots back to Lincoln and T. Roosevelt and has more to do with an approach to issues and how an individual is equipped to deal with these issues. Unfortunately, over the last several years, some in the party have sought influence over specific issues, but this party is not alone. Just ask elderly Southern democrats about it. They still long for a FDR.
Ah, that’s just it, Helen, I don’t think Republicans “hate” us. Some do, but as a party, I don’t think there’s hate. They can be misguided and misinformed, and if their particular religious beliefs prohibit homosexualtiy, that’s still not “hate”. I respect that. There are certainly some jerks and assholes here and there, as there are in the Dem party. I sometimes feel hated by Dems because I have a quasi-Christian belief system, but I keep in mind that there are a lot of Christians in the Democratic party. But when I say I was a practicing Buddhist for 5 years, all the Dems I know say, “oooh, how cool!”. I’m sad that our political system has turned into a religious war.
Disclaimer: I repeat, I identify more as a Libertarian than anything else. Trying to put aside religious views – It’s not just the budget, it’s the military, which, for ME is a big enough issue to trump anything else. Extreme libs would label me a war-monger, no? Having a strong military doesn’t make one a war-monger, it makes one prepared. We kicked ass in WWII and there’s a reason for that. I’m very skeptical the Democratic party has military strength as a priority.
Note: You know how I was discharged in 1989? Honorably, as a Conscientious Objector. 😉
As a Republican and a crossdresser, I see no necessary inconsistency between the two. For most political issues, regardless of whether you support the Democrat or Republican position, clothing choices and gender conception are irrelevant. The fact that I recognize and value those aspects of my personality which would be considered “feminine†and that in the privacy of my own home I at times like to wear clothing typically associated with women does not in any way diminish my support for core Republican values. I still believe in limited government, especially at the federal level, and believe that state and local government should play a greater role in decisions and policy areas where experimentation and innovation are beneficial and where individuals with greater knowledge of local and state conditions are better equipped to formulate policy. While it is important, for example, to have quality schools throughout the nation, what works best in New York City might not work best in Lincoln, Nebraska, or San Antonio, Texas. I still believe in a strong national defense, tough policies on crime, lower taxes, and economic policies which help foster small businesses and free trade. When it comes to social issues or “family valuesâ€, I am still pro-life, I still believe in the sanctity of marriage, and I still believe in instilling strong moral values in children.
While I cannot speak for those who are transexual (as that is not me), I would expect most of my comments would apply to those who are transexual and Republican. It would be on some of the social issues where I would expect they would have trouble reconciling who they are with Republican policies.
“Guns, God, And Gays”
No, we’re not a campaign tool for Republicans. They don’t hate us. Just some on the fringe. Some on the fringe who manage to put gay marriage on the state ballot as a wedge issue.
I actually DO think most republicans don’t care about us. We’re pawns. We turn out votes and generate activism.
Helen,
re: fiscal conservatism: Yes, and since Reagan the Republican record on the deficit has become progressively worse, culminating in Bush as a breathtaking fiscal disaster. Before this year, McCain seemed to be a throwback to ancient days when the Republican party wasn’t the party of debt. Now, I’m not so sure.
As for a party that hates me – basically, I’m optimistic about progress for LGBT people. I think it’s primarily socially driven, not politically, and it’s going to continue – so long as the American experiment goes forward. When there’s an existential fear for the future of America – the fear the debt brings me, or the fear terrorism brings some people – and you think one candidate is more likely to get us past the crisis and let the American experiment continue, then you become willing to accept him not giving *direct* support to LGBT Americans, considering the survival and health of the nation to be more valuable *indirect* support.
Incidentally, I don’t buy terrorism as a reason to vote Republican. I’ve always thought Obama can do far better than McCain on security / foreign policy, simply because Bush has sent our international respect and goodwill deep into negative territory (from an all-time high, nice job), and our only chance to get the cooperation of the world again is to convince them that something is seriously different over here. Even if McCain were personally a foreign policy genius, the rest of the world will see another white man from Bush’s party and ignore him. Obama has a chance of telling them, “No, really – it’s a whole new game.”
Amen, Jadecath. re: your last paragraph, that’s one of the main reasons I’m voting for Obama.
Isn’t all the xenophobia, racism, homophobia and sexism just a smokescreen though? I don’t think the Republicans (or any right-wing party) are really particularly bigoted. They just want people to think they are, because bigotry buys the votes of stupid people.
What do the republicans (or all conservatives) want? They want smaller government. They want to reduce your taxes. They don’t want to reduce your taxes to be nice to you though. It’s just a byproduct of transferring services that used to be performed by government to private industry. So you have a HMO rather than Medicare. You have a private pension plan, disability insurance, private schools, private utilities, private police force, private provision of infrastructure (toll roads) etc.
Sure, you pay less tax, but you get less services too. So you have to sign up for health insurance, home insurance, pay tolls, pay more into a retirement fund. The brilliant thing is that people don’t see these things as taxes. People on the whole are stupid.
The wealthy people own shares in all these service providers that people must pay money to, and so by providing their capital, they live off the labour of the little guy, the poor dumb schmuck that voted republican because he don’t like them niggers.
So of course the republicans are bigots. They’re bigots because if people realised what they were really about, they’d never get into office.
well that’s the funny thing, N. the real bigotry in this country is against anything that seems imported from Europe, and anything vaguely commie.
it’s the fact that they own this shit that they keep quiet about, but not the antipathy toward anything government-funded and run.
There’s one significant benefit toward moving services toward private industry. I can fire someone from the private sector and go with the competition. As a result, there is some incentive for those companies to make sure that they’re at least trying to meet my needs. If the Ford dealership is providing cruddy service, I can take my business to another repair shop.
When the government is the sole source of services, there is no competition. I can’t go to another social security provider, registry of motor vehicles or tax department. I’m stuck with the government. As a result, there is NO incentive to try to keep the customers happy because they can’t go anywhere. Treat em like dirt, and they still have to come through the door. Raise prices and deliver second rate service? No problem. The people have to pay.
There are some services that have to be provided by government, but we’ve moved towards viewing government as the first choice solution to every social problem coming down the pike.
Maybe the wealthy stand to benefit from this privatization system, but you could always start your own business to get your own chunk of the pie.
C
The question about identifying yourself as transgendered and still belonging to the republican on the surface to may come as a conflict of interest. My own views are much more progressive than what others in the party may comeout on, and are at odds with so much, but I think most people are not 100 % happy with no matter what party they belong to.
It may be easy to wave the flag and come out and say so much of what has been said before, strong defense, lower taxes, strong law enforcement, family values and the list could go on for ever and ever, but even at some of the very so called core beliefs, it may come as a sacrifice to others.
The great defense build up of the Reagan years, came as those serving on active duty their pensions reduced from 50% of their annual salary for new members to 40%, quite a big loss all the while we waived the flag, and the great military hater Bill Clinton raised the pensions back to 50%.
Just one very small refrence, but what I am saying is both parties may be flawed, and it is some of the issues that affect you personaly that make up your political beliefs.
The only thing else I may add and this may be best suited for Helens message boards and is that on my own quest for personal understanding a great deal of my own political and personal beliefs has changed, from gays in the military, gay marriage, and that list could go on as well.
For the time being I still identify as being transgendered and Republican which sometimes seems like the kiss of death.
“I really like limited government and I resist the move to bigger government because I think that makes us vassals of the ruling government. I believe the Democratic party wants bigger government”
This is a bogus argument, if you don’t mind me saying so. What those pushing this really want is more power to the corporations, not more power to the average citizen.
“why this big issue with taping my phone calls to protect national security? I don’t care if any one tapes my phone calls and I question people who do”
They are not taping phone calls to protect national security, they are taping phone calls, to moniter dissent and to intimidate people into silence.
Is there any evidence for: the democratic party trying to dilute the closed ballot, the unions harrassing employees unless the worked less harder, the unions preventing ‘choice’ for ‘poor people [ haa 🙂 ]
“The top 5% pay approx. 60% of US income taxes”
NO, a more accurate estimate is, the top 5% pay about zero % tax, as they can hide their wealth in Switzerland. Helen, how can you allow this reactionary-right-wing-drivle on your forum ? If you want to see some serious self-rightous BS, then check out Shelley the Republican, and she at least, is really trying to be funny. Sorry if I come across a bit over-intense, but I can spot BS at nine hundred yards ..
ref:
Being Republican and being Trans, LisaM
http://www.myhusbandbetty.com/community/showthread.php?t=12571
http://www.shelleytherepublican.com/
“Helen, how can you allow this reactionary-right-wing-drivle on your forum”
It’s called keeping an open mind. It’s called listening to others even though they don’t share your beliefs. It’s called challenging your opinions and conclusions on a regular basis to insure that you’re making decisions that make sense. It’s called being humble enough to realize that no one person has all the answers and that everyone can be wrong at any given time.
I came across an interesting article today from a psychologist who has studied what makes people vote Republican. I think it has some bearing here.
WHAT MAKES PEOPLE VOTE REPUBLICAN? [9.9.08]
By Jonathan Haidt
http://edge.org/3rd_culture/haidt08/haidt08_index.html
A few excerpts:
“People vote Republican because Republicans offer “moral clarity”—a simple vision of good and evil that activates deep seated fears in much of the electorate. Democrats, in contrast, appeal to reason with their long-winded explorations of policy options for a complex world.”
“Unity is not the great need of the hour, it is the eternal struggle of our immigrant nation. The three Durkheimian foundations of ingroup, authority, and purity are powerful tools in that struggle. Until Democrats understand this point, they will be vulnerable to the seductive but false belief that Americans vote for Republicans primarily because they have been duped into doing so.”
Where to start? I am trans and yes I am conservative. Notice I did not say Republican. I would have to say these days there is not much difference between the gop and the democrats. They all have have been on a spending spree of mythic proportions in recent years. I am a live and let live sort of individual. As long as what you are doing does not hurt anyone else, then I will mind my own business. I am voting for McCain/Palin for a simple reason, judgement. I will not vote for Mr. Obama because I do not think he has the temperment or the judgement for the job. I have based my decison on the people Mr. Obama has chosen to surround himself with. A couple of examples: Bill Ayers, Franklin Reynes, Tony Rezco and oh so many others. I know my views will not be popular, but as a friend so often says, “it is what it is…”
Ciao,
Camille
Camille
If that’s how you see it, that makes sense. I feel similarly about McCain, and his in-agreement-with-Bush voting record, which is why I’d never vote for him.
I will say, however, that Chicago politics are notoriously corrupt (as are too many of our big city governments) and getting out of it without slightly shady connections may be entirely impossible.
The difference I see is that Dems are a little more cautious about free market theory – not against it, just a little more tentative about embracing the idea without regulation – and that Repubs are all for it. It’s that economic difference that causes me to vote Dem (& then, when you add all the other stuff, the Christian Right, etc.)
Having been a republican most of my life, I understand how one can be confused. My political history goes back to when I was a volunteer for CREEP in the early 70s. I left the republican party during the Bush administration, because I could not be a part of a party ruled by a narrow, bigoted fundamentalist christian minority. I became a republican in my teens because the republican party was all about small federal government and decentralized power. At that time, the republican model was more about local democracythan about (democrat) federal programs. I left the republican party, and wrote to the president, telling him why, when it became aparent that the Republican party had become owned and operated by a fundamentalist Christian minority attempting to dictate morality. This centered on the DOMA thing, as well as the lies told to engage us in a war. Although I am not a big believer in huge federal government, I am a believer in individual rights, and the Republican party no longer respects an individual’s right to live their own life. This is the influence of the “religious right”, whom I believe do not belong in the GOP. So now I’m a democrat. Another reason to be the “black sheep” of my family. (The rest of it is all about that “trans thing” My brother hates it, my mother just “doesn’t get it” and my father absolutely won’t discuss it. My sister gives me everything she cleans out of the closet, and wishes she could wear my shoes.) I digress. The republican part, for ages, was about small federal government, not interfering in people’s day-to-day lives. If you still believe in that, and still believe that the GOP is based there, I can completely understand your being a part of that party.