Last Friday night my Friend and I went to TPAC to see Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles. Since I’m vastly older than he is, I had a bit more of a connection to the music. We had a great time hanging out. Afterwards, we stopped by Tribe for a drink, then went next door to Play to see what was going on. A mutual friend, “T”, joined us. After a bit of mingling and the requisite collection of a drink from the bar, we headed to the smoking porch out back. The three of us were chatting when a guy in a red waffle henley and a ball cap came up and started talking to my Friend. T and I took to our own conversation. Red shirt was standing just off my right shoulder. At some point in talking with T, I mentioned Proposition 8. Immediately, red shirt turned and started talking to me. I quickly learned that he had moved to Tennessee from California just four months ago. Since he was still registered in L.A., he went back there to vote against Prop 8. I mentioned to him the protests scheduled across the country for the next day and the one set to be held in Nashville at the courthouse. At that point, and without prompting, he said, “I am a Stonewall Democrat.” I smiled and said, “I am a Log Cabin Republican.” His response? “I don’t talk to Republicans.” Then he turned away.
Wow.
I’m pretty out as a conservative. I used to write a column titled “Conservative Tendencies” for the now-defunct Church Street Freedom Press, a local gay paper. It’s pretty common for people to engage me in political discussions when I’m out, whether at the bar or an event. Rather than avoiding me because of my views, the more common reaction is to engage me. That, I can respect. Simply refusing to hear or acknowledge other viewpoints is pretty mindless. I had heard, through GayPatriotWest, of this sort of reaction out on the coast. This guy is going to need to grow up if he wants to live here.
