A friend and I were talking about changes and I realize how different I am from just 2-3 years ago:
-I was on my County Teen Republicans board
-I was very pro-war military (grew up on a military base)
-I was extremely hetero
-I was in “Missionettes”, a girl scouts for fundie Christians
-I dated a guy with a Korean fetish
-I loved George and Laura Bush (sat in the front row of his second inauguration…)
-I hated being with disabled people… had one disabled friend and wouldn’t hang out with her in public
-I was the token asian girl among white people
-I was one of those pro-uniform student council types
-I wanted to be a medical model psychiatrist and “help” people
14 Comments
September 28, 2007 at 5:36 am
People who want to “help” people are the scariest. Congrats on your growth and welcome to the real world.
September 28, 2007 at 10:10 am
Wow, that’s some scary shit. Congrats on breaking free of the brainwashing. Maybe it means that there’s still hope for all of the other female/LGBTQ/POC Republican supporters?
September 29, 2007 at 8:40 am
How did you break free of those beliefs? What led to your “conversion”? I bet that’s an amazing story!
September 29, 2007 at 1:00 pm
do you think it’s okay to help if a person wants help? let’s talk this up soon! <3 mic
September 29, 2007 at 3:53 pm
I’m not willing to condemn what you were because maybe that’s the right way to live for some people.
But it certainly sounds like it wasn’t right for you, and you’ve made great steps in finding what IS right for you, and that’s awesome.
September 29, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Stacey - have you read “Exile & Pride: Disability, Wueerness and Liberation” by Eli Clare? If not, i couldn’t recommend it enough, it’s absolutely awesome, and i was thinking of you (as well as pretty much all the queer disabled people i know… which is actually a majority of all the disabled people i know) most of the way thru reading it…
September 29, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Aaarghh buggery. That W was (obviously) meant to be a Q…
September 29, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Wow, that’s different. Were you really straight then, not just pretending?
Have you retained any sense of Republican values? Was there anything that drew you to be politically active in a Republican way or was it just another activity?
I will certainly either post the collage after it’s all done, or I’ll send you a copy.
September 30, 2007 at 12:04 am
Wow! You really had an awakening and made some great changes!
September 30, 2007 at 1:32 am
Can I ask what HAPPENED? Like, was it a series of things, or one big breakthrough? I find that kind of “conversion” fascinating!
September 30, 2007 at 8:27 pm
hahaha, you guys are awesome
a few friends and i presented at a conference this past weekend and…no one “got” what we were saying. i was really frusterated by the audience until a friend reminded me about posting this week last week. it definitely puts things in perspective and shows that anyone can change/grow/whatever.
the change was gradual and instanteous at the same time.. there were a lot of “oh dang i was wrong” moments that were definitely related to developing my identity as a disabled person.
as far as the straight-queer thing, i dunno. i really feel like i was straight but changed (until this year, there were never any hints or seeds of doubt) although others would probably argue that queerness has always been there and was latent.
and as for the “helping” part— it’s more of how the “helpers” see themselves… if they see the “helpees” as less fortunate or in need of a savior, then there is a problem. if the person who wants to help is someone that can help the person find their own power and be an ally (not the power-giver), then i suppose that is a different thing. just a lot of the people who want to “help” the disabled/poor/houseless, etc. often do it in a patronizing demeaning way.
October 4, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Its interesting how we change, isnt it.
October 5, 2007 at 6:30 pm
So what made you change your mind??? Did so something miraculous that made say, “Holy shit, I’ve been a mistake all my life voting for the Idiot Prez and being a republucan hypocrite!!!”?
You know really, at least Clinton got the nerves to say, “i had oral sex with monica!!!”
Read my blog and please tell me what you think..
October 24, 2007 at 6:36 am
Don’t feel bad. Your experiences sound a lot like my entire life up until the past three years. I was raised in a religious high-control group (i.e. cult) and politically I identified myself as a conservative. I could go on but I’m pretty embarrassed to admit to anything more.
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