Conservative Americans were asked why queer people bother them – the answers are surprising
Self-professed Conservatives have claimed they don’t have anything against the LGBTQ+ community. (Canva)
Self-professed Conservatives have claimed they don't have anything against the LGBTQ+ community. (Canva)
A Reddit user asked Conservative Americans why queer people bother them, and the answers are refreshingly surprising.
Conservative and anti-LGBTQ+ have become synonymous, with LGBTQ+ people being increasingly scapegoated by MAGA politicians who are pushing the conservative agenda.
Executive orders signed by Republican president Donald Trump have influenced a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Orders such as “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” and “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias and Restoring Freedom of Speech” have set a precedent for heightened conservative-led hostility.
This year, the Trans Legislation Tracker has recorded 124 passed anti-trans bills, while 506 remain active.
Keen to understand why the community is being scapegoated so frequently, a Reddit user asked, “Conservatives/MAGA: Why does the LGBTQ+ seem to bother you so much?”
The question received thousands of responses from people who claimed to be faithful to the Republican Party.
‘It’s just a convenient demonisation’
One person commented: “It doesn’t really bother most Republicans either. It’s just a convenient demonisation to get poor people to forget you’re robbing them blind. Like immigrants.”
“I think you will find that most conservatives just want people to make their own decisions and live their own lives,” another comment read.
‘The ones that do… are a vocal minority’
“Yeah… I don’t care. Most conservatives aside from the hard core Christians also don’t care,” someone else added to the conversation, while another explained: “My conservative views relate mostly to economics and the power of the government.” They added: “It has never bothered me. A person’s sexual identity and gender is their business, not mine. I do mind when people in any group, whether left, right, ahead or behind, insist that I conform to their idea of how I must live my life.”
“In my experience very very few republicans or even conservatives really care. The ones that do much like the crazy shrieking liberals are a vocal minority. They make the most noise and make the most polarising headlines. So they get noticed more and talked about more,” a different comment read.
Many seemed to agree that they weren’t bothered at all by the community, but few who disagreed cited “kids” and sports as the reason for their “concern”, reflecting Trump’s executive orders targeting gender identity, restricting LGBTQ+ and gender expression in schools, and seeking to ban trans women and girls from female categories of sports.
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