My weekend at the Dorchester Conference in Seaside, Oregon (March 5-7, 2010) was exciting, enriching and enlightening. At first, as an openly-gay Libertarian running for the US Senate (presumably against some attendees) I was a bit intimidated by the belief that the VIP of the Oregon Republican Party and a number of other political players would be participating.

I got used to that real quick. Because I share some values with the basic platform (not necessarily the actions) of the Republican Party: limited government, civil liberties, etc. – I felt at ease with expressing who I am. With a cadre of involved youth, I was immediately impressed with how accepting of the gay community the College Republicans, some high-school students and other sons and daughters of the attendees actually were. Things were apparently getting more open and tolerant in the GOP. A sign of the times?

You see, when you get to know people and don’t automatically exclude them based on what you hear, you develop solid relationships and open lines of communication not often thought possible. Just as my fellow LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) brothers and sisters have been type-casted and labeled for a select few in the community who can be over the top/extreme, so have much of the Republican Party that I saw.

Now, I won’t lie to you, there probably were some homophobic people there. There was probably some racism floating in the convention hallways along with the belief that women may not be equal, but all in all, this was such an eye-opener for me. Some ladies were even passing out green ribbons to denounce the hatred that is being spread in Oregon; namely there was talk about the Nazi Party moving into Eastern Oregon. The Nazis and their message were immediately denounced at the conference’s opening night.

Because I opened my mind, took a chance and acted in the face of fear, I developed what I believe will be long-term political relationships and friendships with open-minded, concerned citizens who happen to have registered Republican. And not that there should be anything wrong with Republicans or Democrats, but I’m registered Libertarian, so aren’t I supposed to hate them?

I scoff at the notion that we are often taught (by example) to hate another just for “belonging” to a different community. I dismiss the idea that I can’t try and work with a community that has historically been at odds with another to whom I belong. But in the unique and often troubling reality that is my own, I can’t seem to “fit neatly” into one of these “boxes” that I have been labeled with. I share common goals and ideas with so many of such varied backgrounds. I am socially liberal and fiscally conservative, a child of a single mother and raised with government assistance, a leader, openly-gay, a business owner, a volunteer, an elected official and an American Oregonian. I am Libertarian. Many people who just happened to “pick a party” because they want to be more involved were there and wanted to listen, wanted to learn, wanted to grow and wanted to accept and appreciate a different point of view. Dorchester was a way to get involved and be the change I wanted to see in the world.

These horrible ills of generalization and labeling in our society remind me of Genghis Khan’s war plan of “Divide & Conquer.” I think somehow we’ve been manipulated into thinking that associating with a group with whom we may disagree (even only slightly), we’re somehow a traitor, a sell-out or worse – an enemy. This is how we as a society lose; we’re defeated when we’re told and believe that we’re not to talk with those TEA partiers, those liberals, those, those, those. We’re continuously labeled: black or white, male or female, gay or straight, poor or rich, Christian or Muslim, liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat. Once labeled, we’re supposed like the others within our group and we’re supposed to cast out and demonize those without our given label(s).

This must stop, folks. I’m taking a lead role because I haven’t seen many others who have. I’m not that special; you can do this, too. But real change must happen from us or it will happen to us. This bickering and dividing and generalizing and hating must stop. We as a whole are being picked apart and sold off, piece by piece. Like cattle, it seems we’re being sold to the highest bidder and corralled into thinking it’s us versus them.

We must bring our communities together.

By going to Dorchester, I had to be courageous. I had to know that I was running the risk of being labeled as “the gay guy,” or “that Libertarian.” I had to know that my LGBT friends and family might ostracize me for my association with a party that has become labeled “anti-gay.”

But I took the chance and I went for it and I’m eternally enlightened by the energy and enthusiasm of the entire event. It’s just so important to inquire into a community you can’t yet understand. For credibility’s sake, for your own sanity, for the community you represent and for the community with whom you’ve disagreed, we must come together. Stephen Covey wrote in his phenomenal book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” that you need to “seek first to understand, then to be understood” if you are to be successful. Are we to be successful by reaching out and offering an ear with which to hear and listen to the sentiments of the “other side?” Or are we to suffer the similar fate of those civilizations that have sunk?

It has been so stated and could be cliché, but together we stand and divided we fall. You must be the one who reaches out. You. Take that chance and as Mahatmas K. Gandhi challenged us to do: create the change you want to see in the world.

Looking forward,

Marc Delphine
Candidate, US Senate
www.marcforsenate.com

Donate Now Volunteer Full Archives