I have a confession to make. For the past couple of years the name you have known me as, is a lie. Now I know Harlyn De Luna is a great name (if I do say so myself), but it's not my real name, not even close. Like millions I felt uncomfortable using my real name online for fear of discrimination, retribution, and doxxing. Although this is a fear for many, it is especially nerve wracking for conservatives.
Conservatives, I know you understand but for those of you who aren't conservative let me do some explaining. Being a conservative or Republican also recently known as domestic terrorist, Nazi, racist, extremist, etc you are often subject to an unusual form of hate, bigotry, and all around assholishness (is that a real word?). If you can believe it, it comes from those on the so-called side of kindness, empathy, diversity, and inclusion.
So some if not many conservatives tend to stay on the down low as much as they can until they can ensure they are safe to be ‘out’. Several months ago I saw one of the founders of ‘Gays Against Groomers’ say it was harder for her to come out as conservative then it was for her to come as gay! This is the world nearly half the country lives in. We feel we are unwelcome, unwanted, and often despised by the ‘kind’ people just based on who we are and what we believe. Which I think it's important to note much of what we believe almost everyone on Earth believed in until like 5 minutes ago.
I recall being in college in the early 2000s, and it being an incredibly tough time-even back then. It's gotten much worse today. Professors don't care about your opinion, they just care about their own. So I would often have to grapple with my pride or GPA. College is supposed to be a place of open mindedness. Sadly, this has not been the case for decades. After learning the hard way that the ‘kind’ liberals would not accept me, I decided from then on I’d go into the closet. I’ve remained there ever since.
When I meet new people I have a litmus test I use to gauge their tolerance towards traditional beliefs. It's sad we feel the need to hide our beliefs, but this is just the nature of our society. And it has been that way for a long time. I know there are some liberals who will say conservatives should be discriminated against. I know there are some who say it's good we feel excluded, are worried for our safety, and livelihood. They’ll say if we don't want to be hated then we should join the side of kindness otherwise we should enjoy our deserved suffering. The irony and hypocrisy is totally lost on them.
I’ve been in the closet so long and so deep I felt I could live there forever. But I am living a lie and lying to all my followers and everyone I respect and interact with. It's disingenuous and exhausting. And quite frankly I’m getting too old to keep self censoring! Although now the side of ‘kindness’ seems to be on the warpath against those who believe differently from them like never before, it's more important than ever to tell the truth. We are battling an ideology that is built on nothing but myths and lies and so it's time for me to tell the truth! Because the reality is, I believe in freedom, I believe in the American constitution. I believe we are ALL equal in the eyes of God and the law, why should I be ashamed of that?
I believe we should judge each other by the content of our character, not the color of our skin. I believe women are those who are born with female reproductive systems not those with ‘feminine feelings’ (whatever that means). I believe gays and lesbians have a right to be same sex attracted. I believe parents know best for their children, not teachers, doctors, or the Democratic Party. I believe in free speech. No one has the ability to determine hate speech, so all speech must be free. I believe in the 2nd amendment. I believe in religious liberties. I believe in a smaller less intrusive government. I believe everyone has a right to believe what they wish but they do not have a right to force those beliefs on anyone else. And that does NOT make me a bad person, that makes me an American!
My name is Rebecca Velo. I’m a mother, woman, American and CONSERVATIVE. I am damn proud of who I am. So from here on out, I’m gonna be me. And I am going to continue to speak out against this anti-human, anti-science, anti-reality nonsensical postmodern, so-called progressive, woke agenda. I hope you will join me in doing the same!
If you are a closet conservative, and you need words of encouragement or advice, please reach out. I’ve been there, I understand what it's like. It's hard feeling like you're alone. But there are so many of us, we just need to find each other.
Thank you all for following me, reading, and sharing my posts. Please continue to connect with me on Twitter (under my real name) and at Wrong Speak, where I am a staff writer and post many of my articles.
Let's keep going and win this!
Poignant column and a thoughtful declaration of beliefs. It’s writing like these that give me hope for the direction of the country. The group think of the costal elites and the post modernist religion spread in the universities will be a long fight but there are cracks in the wall. The left is unwittingly uniting parents as the schools decay further and parents are opting out. The push to normalize pedophilia will break party lines as the natural right of parents will supersede the law of the state. I look forward to more of your writings and wish you all blessing to you and your family in the New Year
If someone is looking down on conservatives it's because they clearly think they are personally better than them. That means they are already a bit of a narcissist. Many Democrats believe they have the only way to help people, mostly because they'll never listen to conservatives of how they would like to help people. Democrats want to give a man a fish every day for the rest of their life to "help" and never realize that Conservatives/Republicans/Libertarians are more "teach a man to fish" kind of people. That actually helps people more than a carrot on a stick.
But so many democrats are obsessed with being the side that helps and demonizing the other political parties as no help, they never see the error of their ways. They're conceited. Now, of course, I know this doesn't apply to all Democrats. But most Democrats certainly think all Republicans or conservatives are evil. It's amazing how little self-reflection there is.