You’re scared. I know. You’re afraid if your friends find out they won’t accept you. You’re afraid to be called derogatory names, that your very character will be judged, and that you’ll never escape the labels. You avoid telling everyone the truth because it’s so much easier to stay in the closet. Mainstream society doesn’t want you to be out and open, living your life freely as a conservative.
In 2019, it’s easier to come out as trans, gay, bi, or non-binary than it is to come out as a conservative. The former are not only accepted, they’re celebrated. The latter is met with disgust and contempt.
College students are afraid to voice their conservative thought in fear of being harassed or assaulted (as we’re seeing on many college campuses now). Conservative talking heads and politicians are being verbally and sometimes physically attacked at restaurants. Conservative ideals are automatically labeled as racist, sexist, homophobic, and bigoted without a second thought.
After my recent interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, where we discussed the silencing of conservative voices and the fear young people feel because of it, I have had countless people reach out to tell me they too are closeted conservatives. I’m not implying that conservatives are persecuted to the level of historically disenfranchised groups of people, but if this continues to go unchecked it will only get worse.
Grace and tolerance are only extended to one side of the ideological spectrum. If you breach the right side of the center line, your ideas are deemed invalid and immoral. Your political affiliation is falsely attributed to Nazi-esque motivations.
As a result, no defense of your viewpoint is taken into consideration and any assault on you is deemed acceptable. Those who oppress conservative thought are considered heroes in the war on “hate.” This logic is the reason we have the divisive political culture in the first place. The left is confusing opinion with substantiated facts. Confusing your own subjective viewpoints with objective reality is known as ignorance.
True tolerance and diversity of ideas means accepting that people will not always agree with you and that is an integral part of a successfully functioning society. Disagreeing with someone’s viewpoint is not a personal attack, it is not an assault on their existence, and it is not spewing hate. Thinking half the country has ideas rooted in malice is an incredibly inaccurate view of the American people.
Outside of the handful of individuals in the world who are truly evil, I can confidently say we develop our political ideals with the intention of the nation’s betterment.
Super-soaking a conservative speaker on campus, dumping water on a conservative pundit at a restaurant, and verbally harassing a conservative advocate trying to walk a group of students to a speaking event is the epitome of bigotry. Acting in vicious disdain and demonizing ideas counter to your own is the epitome of intolerance. Forcing conservatives into the closet is no worse than forcing LGBT people to live as straight people.
To some extent, those on the left are correct. America can be a place of bigotry in 2019. It’s directed at those who don’t agree with the radical mainstream progressive narrative, and it’s tormenting our culture. We have the power to change that. We have the power to end the animus and to let all Americans feel safe expressing their ideals.
Alyssa Ahlgren (@AlyssaRuza) is an ambassador for Turning Point USA and a columnist for Alpha News MN.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.
