Being a young conservative woman, especially in a left-wing college, it can be hard to make and to keep friends who won’t judge you. Being conservative or Republican on a college campus is like asking for social suicide because you are the one man out (or shall I say one woman out in my case). People will automatically judge you because of your political beliefs, without even fully knowing what you believe in. Just because I identify as a conservative woman does not mean I’m automatically a racist, bigoted, homophobic member of the KKK. It genuinely doesn’t work like that, because you are allowed to identify as whatever you want, and not exactly agree with all the conventional guidelines of conservatism.
With all of that being said, I want to say 90% of my friend group are liberals. Occasionally we talk politics, but no matter what we all respect each other’s views and go out for drinks after. I value my friendships with those people more than any political belief because I know that, regardless of political views, I chose to befriend these people for a reason. It was not based on politics, and it will never be.
I’ve lost a great deal of friendships over my political views. On social media platforms like Facebook, I try to be as respectful as possible if a debate comes into swing because chances are I will end up debating a friend of mine. The sad truth is, no matter how much you justify your reasonings or how respectful you are, people will still judge you because you support ‘white cis male scum’.
Even after losing some people in my life due to politics, I’m happy that I now know the people in my life I can count on. I want to use this as an opportunity to thank each and every one of my friends, close or not, who continue to love me just as any other human being. Thank you for not judging me and being respectful of my views, as I do the same for you.
Thank you for choosing to be equal with me.
My point is to persuade anyone reading this to focus on more important things than the belief of another. Value your friendships. Respect your friends. Some of my very best friends are liberal and we still hold each other in the highest regard because we don’t allow politics to get in the way of our relationships.
If you live your life weeding out your friends who don’t share the same opinions as you, you’re not really living equally, are you?
