As a republican, I am constantly learning something new about myself from others who apparently know me better than I know myself. Did you know that identifying as a republican in today’s society means that you are a racist, homophobic, close-minded, gun-loving killer? Yeah, neither did I. These are only a few of the “facts” that I learned about myself as I started to voice my political standpoint and everyone and their mother decided that they had something to say about it. However, I refuse to let these people define me and tell me who I am based on their generalizations of the republican party as a whole. There are so many misconceptions and I’m going to go over a few so the people who call us close-minded can open their minds to the idea that there is still individuality within the republican party. Here are a few things we’re tired of hearing.

You’re only a republican because your parents are.

This is something EVERY young republican hears at some point in their life. Was I raised in a family of republicans? Yes. But do I do everything my parents do? Absolutely not. Sure, they may have had some influence on my political views, but even we don’t always agree on all of the same things within the political party and have our differences. If you tell me I’m a republican because my parents are, then I’m going to come right back at you and tell you the same thing about your political views and your parents. Plus, do you really think every single republican’s parents are republicans as well?

You’re close-minded.

This one gets to me every time. My mind has always been very open. I have always listened to other people’s thoughts and beliefs about why they choose to support or to not support a certain standpoint. I have disagreed with bits and pieces of their reasoning, but more importantly, I have also agreed with bits and pieces of their standpoint. Can you believe that?! A republican who genuinely WANTS to know why you think the way you do! However, a lot of people who tell me I’m close-minded are the people who refuse to even hear me out on why I support what I do, so who’s really close-minded here?

You’re against women’s rights.

Well, I’m a woman and I enjoy my rights, so do you think I really want to take those away from myself? No. There’s a difference between taking away the rights of women and taking away the rights of an unborn child to live and experience life. Pro-life does not mean that I think women shouldn’t have rights. Pro-life just means that I don’t think a woman should have the right to take a life and that I support a fair shot at life for all people, born or unborn.

I bet you heard that on Fox News.

Or I heard it on the various other news sources I read articles from such as CNN, NBC, and CBS. Just because I watch Fox News once in a blue moon doesn’t mean I don’t watch anything else. I rarely ever even watch or listen to any news at all. As a young adult, most of my information actually comes from what people are sharing on media anyways and you’re bound to see more sides of a situation on media than anywhere else because everyone is posting their viewpoint and all viewpoints are different from person to person.

Republicans are all old white men.

Again, I am a woman. I’m also a teenager. Did I mention that I have friends of different races who are also republicans? This is the most pointless generalization I have ever heard as a republican. What’s the relevance of how old, what race, or what gender someone in a political party is?

So you’re voting for Trump?

Just because I’m a republican doesn’t mean that my vote automatically goes to whoever is running for the republican party. My vote is going to whoever I think can run the country the best. Does this assumption about me mean that you’re voting for Hilary Clinton solely because you’re a democrat though?

Oh, so you’re racist.

I get it all the time, mainly because I don’t like Obama or his views. Just because a lot of republicans don’t like Obama doesn’t mean they’re racist. A lot of republicans didn’t like Bill Clinton either and you can correct me if I’m wrong, but Bill Clinton is white. How can you call me racist anyways when I associate myself positively with people of all different races on a daily basis? There are racist republicans, but there are also racist liberals and democrats. It’s a personal choice, not a political party choice.

You’re a homophobe.

A phobia is defined as an extreme or irrational fear of something. I’m not scared of people who choose to be gay. Do I agree with their choice? No. Am I scared of them or do I think of them differently than anyone else? No. I don’t care what your sexuality is. I’m a republican, but I’m not going to try to stop you from being who you are. Why are you even complaining about gay marriage laws to republicans when it’s the job of congress to make and change laws? Complaining to me won’t change it.

Shootings happen because of you.

This is, by far, the worst accusation people have to throw at republicans. There is such thing as a republican who doesn’t own a gun, just like there is such thing as a democrat who does own a gun. You can’t say it’s a republican party issue. Again, why act like there’s something the republican party can do about it? Even if we wanted to take away the right to own firearms, we couldn’t do it because that’s the job of congress. Even then, drugs are illegal and over 570,000 people still die annually from drug use. So now that we’re looking at it from that perspective, is outlawing guns going to stop shooters from obtaining them? Well, did outlawing drugs stop people from obtaining them? No. It’s a never ending issue and there’s no way to completely put a stop to it. If you’re still going to complain about it, at least complain to the right people and leave me out of it.

Regardless of what political standpoint you have, you’re never going to agree with everyone. However, making these generalizations and assumptions is never going to change things. As an individual, I will take a stand for what I believe and I will no longer let people think that they can define me by my identification as a republican, just as I will not define you by your choice of political standpoint. We have just as much of a right to believe what we want as you do to choose what you believe, so respect everyone else's beliefs and views as you would want them to respect your own.