I received this email on Saturday and was quite moved. When I was interviewed by the Philadelphia Gay News, the reporter asked me what kind of “mix” of readers/commenters the GayPatriot blog had. I responded that my sense was about 50% supportive/like-minded gays, 30% violently opposed/leftist gays, and 20% straight, conservative and curious about a gay Republican.
I’m not sure if this reader falls precisely into that last category. But one of the main reasons I kept this blog going was to reach out to straight conservatives to make them see that not everyone in the gay community thinks America is bad, is against capitalism, is anti-religion, and is supportive of pro-terrorist/anti-war groups.
I found your blog a few weeks back, and have added it to my list to read on a regular basis. I’ve found your writing to be precise and your opinions quite reasonable and fair, and usually pretty accurate as well. It’s always refreshing to see someone who can see the big picture.
As to myself, I’m a very straight man, with a wife and three kids. I’m also a life member of the Disabled American Veterans. I was an aircrewman in the US Navy, and have a little over 4,000 hours of Combat Aircrew time in P-3 Orions, and some hours in helos. But I digress.
My interest in the gay community has grown over the years because two of my shipmates were gay. They were fine men, with whom I spent many hours, both on missions, and just on liberty. They trusted me with their lives, and I trusted mine to them. Both loved life, and died far too early from HIV/AIDS. That was nearly 20 years ago, when so little was known about the disease and how to combat it. I think of them from time to time, and can still see their youthful faces, so full of life, with such good souls. I miss them, as I do other shipmates who died in service to their country, lost in their youth fulfilling a promise to the nation to be there if it called.
Maybe it’s survivor’s guilt, or maybe just waxing nostalgic for my own youth. Not that I’m old, mind you, just older (I turned 50 this past February). It might be that I was left behind to tell their stories. If so, I’m a poor choice for that. Perhaps though, I might yet give it a shot. We’ll see.
Anyway, enough rambling. I just wanted to say thanks for the work you are doing. It’s important to cut through the politics and the shrill voices of the victim-cults. We are all under attack by a cunning and devious enemy, who on one hand proclaims the moral rightousness of his cause, while his other is smeared with the blood of innocents. Folks who cry the loudest about oppression and the loss of “rights” haven’t a clue as to what life is like under the Taliban, which is where our enemies want to drag us.
You fellows get it. For that, you have my thanks and my respect. If you are ever up in Maine, feel free to drop by. I don’t have much, but what I have is there to share. I can only promise you a good cup of coffee, a good meal, and a warm welcome.
Thanks for the kind thoughts! But more importantly, thanks for your service and sacrifice to your nation. We are proud of you.
-Bruce (GayPatriot) – gaypatriot2004@aol.com