“Oh my god, you’re a Republican? What’s wrong with you? You do know you’re a girl, right?”

“Oh, of course you are. You’re white.”

“You’re such a bigot. You’re what’s wrong with this country.”

I have heard it all. People wonder why I’ve been quiet my whole life, and this is part of the reason. I knew that no matter what I said, it never really mattered. People would surround me and try to shove me into their little box so proudly labeled “Socialism” or “Liberals Unite!” It would have been so easy, but I never fit right. It’s probably because my parents always taught me to be different. Be the person who doesn’t cave into peer pressure. Be the girl who thinks for herself. Well, that doesn’t necessarily go over very well in high school.

Although Naperville, IL is a fairly conservative city, a large amount of my peers are democrats. I can honestly say that I have never once felt comfortable expressing my opinion in front of them. It wasn’t really because I was afraid that I would be wrong, it was more because of the fact that a lot of the people around me wanted me to be. It was even harder to find other people like me. I would be someone’s friend until they would ask me about gun control or something and of course, they didn’t like my answer, and that was the end of that “friendship.” Well, I guess that they weren’t worth knowing anyway. They would preach about acceptance while I would receive none, and yet I’m the bad guy. It’s funny how that works.

I get the peer pressure though. It’s a lot easier being a democrat than it is being a republican these days. In my community, if you are a democrat and you want to voice your opinion, you already have all this validation because not only are your classmates agreeing with you, but a lot of times so is your teacher. And what kid in high school doesn’t want to fit in? Well, apparently me. I didn’t want to sacrifice a part of myself just to be well-liked. Is that so bad?

I guess that in some ways I’m a lone wolf (or a lone elephant as you could say). It seemed as if the more liberal you were, the better a person you were as long you weren’t a communist. I disagree with that though. I think that you can still be conservative and not want to throw minorities in the trash or take money out of poor people’s hands. I don’t think I’m an awful person for wanting a smaller government, but you may disagree. Obviously, not every democrat I’ve met has made me feel bad, but enough have to make me write about it. Don't get me wrong though, even some of my best friends are democrats. Not all democrats are the same, but the same goes for conservatives. Some people just forget that like an elephant, conservatives have feelings, too.

I don’t understand my generation sometimes. We want this thing called “progress,” but all I ever see is polarization and anger. We may have progress is some ways, but we are also hindering it. I don’t think it’s progress when I hear things like, “This country would be a better place if all the republicans were slaughtered.” It’s not progress when my peers unfriend me or block me on social media when I express my opinion. I am so “unaccepting,” but I would never do the same to them. Anyone that knows me personally knows that I would never silence someone or distance myself from people who think different from me. Do you know how many of my Facebook friends post about their love for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton on a daily basis? Did you know that I haven’t unfriended or blocked any of them?

I’m sure there is a democrat somewhere who feels like an outsider in their community just like me. It’s always hard being the minority. So call me whatever you want. Call me sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, ignorant, bigoted or anything else that I've heard before. As you call me these things, I will remember when people like you said that you should never put labels on people. I’ve been quiet my whole life, but I won’t be quiet anymore.