I know what you're thinking... I'm just an animal-loving, pot-smoking, Birkenstock wearing, hippy-dippy socialist that wants to take away your guns.

You caught me.

While I do religiously wear my Birkenstocks and am a hardcore fan of puppy cuddles, I definitely do not fit the entire stereotype above. On any given day, you probably won't find me waving around a rainbow flag or chuckin' up peace signs left and right, but even if I did, why would that be such a bad thing? As someone who politically identifies as a liberal, I'm a frequent recipient of eyes rolls and frustrated sighs. And while these negative responses used to make me feel insecure about my political beliefs, I've learned to embrace my viewpoints with confidence and conviction. Like T-Swizzle says, "The haters (Conservatives) are gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate." Something like that, right?

While there is a smorgasbord of reasons as to why I'm proud to represent the blue-party, I'll keep it short and sweet.

I'm proud to be a liberal because...

1. I believe that women deserve the same rights as men.

What a groundbreaking concept. Receiving equal pay and having the ability to make decisions concerning your own body? These are not privileges, these are human rights.

2. I believe that climate change is a real thing.

Yes conservatives, whenever you say that you're "not a scientist," you're absolutely right, and should probably pay attention to the actual scientists who are consistently finding strong correlations between carbon emissions and the deterioration of our ozone layer.

P.S. Just because it may have gotten a little bit colder in your neck of the woods this past year, doesn't mean that climate change doesn't exist. *Plot twist* severe fluctuations in temperature, wild weather, and changing snow and rain patterns are, in fact, signs of climate change.

3. I believe in a living wage.

It absolutely blows my mind how people can a work their ass off for forty hours a week at a minimum wage job and still be incredibly below the poverty line. Actually, in many cases, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour has been considered very sound policy by many economists, as:

"it increases the reward for work among low and moderate income households struggling to make ends meet and spreads the modest costs of doing so broadly in proportion to families’ ability to pay."

4. I believe that one shouldn't be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation.

Refer to phrase "these are not privileges, these are human rights" from my first point. End of conversation.

So, to all of my fellow liberals reading this, I leave you with this: While your beliefs will be challenged time to time, just remember that you are the people who have been the catalysts for change in this country for hundreds of years. Fighting for justice and equality are two things that you should always be proud of.