When my oldest child was in high school, the school encountered its first openly gay student. The young man in question was an exuberant thunderbolt of warmth and talent who, from the moment he entered kindergarten, was loved by all who knew him. When he hit high school, he came out in a big way. “I am gay—very gay,” he said, and he started attending school events with his boyfriend. Our small town had never seen anything like it before.
Alt-right members preparing to enter Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Virginia, holding Nazi, Confederate, and “Don't Tread on Me” flags.
Photo: Anthony Crider
This story would not be particularly remarkable except that this young man was born into a family of Republicans. His father was a strong Second Amendment advocate who harbored government conspiracy theories, and his mother’s family were Catholics who had been central to local GOP politics for years. But more important to them than politics or religion was their unquestioned love for this boy. Almost overnight, his family became some of the strongest and most vocal advocates for gay rights our town had seen. They did not all become liberal Democrats, but to them the campaign for LBGTQ rights was an important and obvious cause. They were in.