Politically Persecuted
How Do We Stop The Growing Trend Of Political Suppression And Discrimination?
Originally published on WrongSpeak.net on 8/26/22.
I learned from a young age that my political beliefs could hurt me. Not because they are racist Nazi beliefs, but because they are not in line with those of the predominantly wealthy, White, liberal, upper class that run the universities, mass media, and increasingly big business.
I grew up in a working class Democratic family. My parents were not terribly liberal but we’re proud Democrats. My father, a political junkie, turned me on to politics early. As I became more cognizant of the world around me, I knew I wasn’t a Democrat like my parents. I am a realist, I believe life isn’t always fair, it’s very cruel, and little more can be done to remedy this. I believe in personal responsibility and self-reliance. So when I turned 18, I registered as a Republican.
I entered college in the fall of 2001, right before the 9/11 attacks. After that fateful day my worldview was affirmed. We live in a dangerous world. We need strength and resolve, not a Pollyanna view of world peace. Many in the world do not have freedom like we do and we are incredibly lucky to have it! I continued college with my conservative beliefs.
I openly declared it in my papers, when I spoke in class, and even on my clothes. My father repeatedly told me to stop. ‘Don’t go to school wearing that shirt’, he’d yell, not because it showed too much skin, but because it said ‘Proud Republican’. ‘You’ll be sorry’, he’d say. And it wasn’t until the reelection of George W. Bush geared up in 2004 that I realized how right he was.
After the election and George W. Bush won, I really noticed a change in the way my professors treated me. I received the worst grades of my 8 year academic career that semester. I learned my dad was right all along. And from then on, I decided I needed to remain closeted. Even as I write this, I am still closeted.
I reveal my true identity only to those I deem safe. I worry constantly about being ‘outed’. And I’m not the only one. Conservatives, especially young ones, are afraid to be ‘out’. A member of the popular Twitter account ‘Gays Against Groomers’ said ‘coming out as conservative is much harder than coming out as gay now’. Its easier to come out as gay then to come out as conservative. I felt that!
“The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Provisions of this civil rights act forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing”. So a restaurant cannot refuse to serve someone because he is Black. An employer cannot refuse to hire someone because she is a woman. And a family cannot be refused a home loan because they are Muslim. This pivotal right has protected millions of Americans for decades. The civil rights act was hard won. Martin Luther King Jr died for this right!
Unfortunately there is still a form of discrimination that is alive and well in our country. Discrimination based on political beliefs is not only accepted in our society, it’s often encouraged. Political discrimination, of course generally only goes one way. Those on the political left with increased frequency discriminate against those not just on the political right, but those who are not in line with the ideology of the FAR left.
Do a quick Google search on whether political bias against conservatives exists and the top results will say no. It’s all in our heads. They admit most journalists are liberals and more conservatives are banned from social media than liberals. But liberal journalists are not biased against conservatives (trust them, they wouldn’t lie) and conservatives are more likely to be banned from social media because they spread false info. False info like the COVID vaccine doesn’t stop the spread of the virus (this is actually true), only women can have babies (well duh), and minors are having ‘gender-affirming’ surgeries (see here, here, and here).
Journalists have also openly admitted to no longer valuing fairness and equal sides. They now say some beliefs (conservative ones) aren’t worth reporting on and should be purposely suppressed. The press has decided rather than being watchdogs for the American people, as the framers intended, they will now be guard dogs for the Democratic Party.
We frequently hear from trans activists ‘no debate’. Men can have babies-no debate. Women can have penises-no debate. ‘Gender-affirming care’ saves kids lives-no debate. Any voice of reason is ‘violence’ and should be silenced. Any question should be refused to be answered. The media obliges. Any coverage on the danger of postmodernism (wokeism) should be and is suppressed. Fairness is no longer a value on the left anymore, neither is equality.
Fairness and equality, the foundations of this great nation are traded in for equity and inclusion. Equity means pushing down others deemed to be ‘privileged’ and inclusion means well, exclusion. It’s better to be inclusive than to be fair, they say. It’s better to have the same outcome (equity), which is actually impossible then for everyone to be treated equally. This is the new worldview of the left. But this is not supposed to be what happens in a Democratic society.
We cannot live in a society where a Black man can be kicked out of a restaurant because he’s wearing a ‘Lets Go Brandon’ shirt. Or where a woman who believes biological sex is real can be denied employment because of her belief. Or where a Muslim family can be denied a home loan because they don’t believe in gay marriage. These situations may not have happened yet, but they could and would be perfectly legal.
James Lindsey, an important figure in the fight against nonsense was permanently banned from Twitter for saying “Ok, child sexualization specialist”. This deserved a permanent ban? This is ‘hateful’? James Lindsey is banned for saying “Ok, child sexualization specialist” but posting a picture of JK Rowling with her personal address and a bomb making guide is acceptable?
This is just one of the MANY examples of political discrimination. Twitter can choose to ban James Lindsey for standing up against harm to children but can also choose to keep up a post threatening harm against children’s author JK Rowling. This is perfectly acceptable for Twitter or any other private company to do.
Men saying they want to punch, kick, harass, rape, scare, torture, and even kill TERFs (women) is acceptable on social media but saying ‘Groomer” is not. First amendment protections only apply to the government, not private companies. So any company can openly and enthusiastically discriminate, suppress, and persecute based on political beliefs without fear.
You can be denied employment and services because of who you voted for! A major news story about Joe Biden’s son, Hunter was purposely suppressed and the NY Post was banned from social media for sharing it right before the 2020 election. Of course their story turned out to be true and social media effectively influenced the election potentially costing Trump his reelection. And this is perfectly legal.
As major news outlets and social platforms continue to censor conservatives, conservatives just go elsewhere. Which only creates echo chambers where we do not talk to each other. If we do not talk to each other we do not know each other. I frequently see commentators say on networks like MSNBC ‘Republicans are fascists’. Wanting restrictions on abortion, a robust 2nd amendment, and requiring ID to vote make us anti-democratic.
A vote for the GOP will lead to the complete collapse of democracy somehow, yet the somehow is never fully articulated. Of course this isn’t confined just to the left. On the right all Democrats are woke groomers, hell bent on indoctrinating our kids into anti-science ideology to make them Marxist soldiers. When we sit in our respective choirs and listen to our preferred sermon we miss out on so much.
It’s time we consider the possibility of making political affiliation a protected category under the civil rights act. Now I know there are many concerns with this. Would that make Nazi beliefs protected? This is a good question. How do you define political beliefs? We’d have to determine that. In no way is this a perfect strategy but we cannot continue to have 50% or more of the country living in fear because of 6% of far left, power drunk, wealthy progressives. I personally live in fear because of the authoritarian tactics of the 6%.
I constantly worry about my kids being harmed and indoctrinated in school. I worry about my boss or potential employer knowing about my political leanings and not promoting me or even firing me because of them. I worry about a doctor or medical professional treating me or my family with such disdain as to cause harm (intentionally or not) because of who I voted for. There have been several accounts of doctors openly abusing patients who do not agree with their leftist beliefs.
A nurse practitioner resigned for saying she wouldn’t prescribe Viagra to any of her conservative patients. Another resident doctor posted online how she harmed a patient when inserting an IV because he laughed at her pronoun badge. As the saying goes, doctors bury their mistakes. When doctors are indoctrinated to be social justice warriors in college (as they currently are) how many ‘mistakes’ will they have on people with different political leanings? It’s frightening to think of!
I often hear we shouldn’t tolerate intolerance. But who decides intolerance? If I believe in biological sex (like most humans alive and have ever lived do) am I intolerant? How do we know the tiny percentage who doesn’t, aren’t the ones who are intolerant? What makes them righteous and me the demon? Who decides what is morally right or wrong? According to the 6% it’s them (of course).
They are the arbitrators of morality. They decide what is hate. Because they have decided they are superior, this is justified. And those who do not agree with them deserve suppression. If you do not agree with radical gender theory you do not deserve kindness. ‘Kill the TERFs’ is celebrated by the ‘be kind’ brigade, like this guy who painted it across his body and walked around in Spain.
Because, legally there isn’t a way to force private companies (which include media outlets and social platforms) to be fair, we have to find a way to mitigate the harm their bias is doing. If we protect political affiliation this would make it illegal for social media outlets to suspend people who do not believe trans women are women.
It would make it illegal for a business owner to refuse service to those who believe differently from them. Political affiliation would be like religious beliefs. It wouldn’t just protect conservatives, it would protect liberals as well. I saw a video of a roofing company owner laughing about how he charges an extra 25% to all liberal customers. This would be illegal as well.
I don’t have all the answers. No one does. And I don’t know if this will solve the increasing division in our society. But I know something must be done. No one should have to be in the closet because of their political beliefs, especially if those beliefs are mainstream and widely held. It doesn’t matter if discrimination episodes are rare. It doesn’t matter if public opinion is against political discrimination. It’s happening! In more areas and with greater frequency.
Many have been fired or bullied out of their jobs because they are not liberal enough. Maya Forstater, Allison Bailey, Kathleen Stock, Colin Wright, Peter Boghossian, Gina Carano the list goes on. Not only does it hurt those who are being persecuted, it hurts those doing the persecuting. Liberal causes are not advanced by refusing to allow others to speak and repeatedly saying ‘no debate’.
It’s high time for us to actually debate! What type of society do we want to have? Do we just want to let our democracy and civility go? Do we want to turn into just another authoritarian regime where a small but powerful minority rules with an iron fist over all others?
Do we want to remain the shining city on a hill? If so we need to have two sides to an argument. We need to listen to each other. We need to accept that other viewpoints exist and more importantly that we cannot always change the beliefs of others, we must accept this! We can all live together with different beliefs but we can’t do so if one side is demonized, persecuted, and suppressed.
I’ve had many interactions on social media with far left individuals who see me as a threat to this country. When I ask them to state why, they struggle. When I remind them of the democratic rights they are attempting to mitigate or eliminate, they deny. When I point out they are not superior, not morally capable of determining hate speech from speech or right from wrong, they disappear.
The truth is, speech must be all free because no one can distinguish between hate speech and other speech. If you believe you can determine this, you are part of the problem. No one is superior, not in the eyes of the law, God, or even society. We are all equal. That’s what makes this country the greatest in the world! We will not continue to be the greatest if we forget this!