By Ed Cook

There is no way I can express why I am a Republican in a few short words. Yet I know that many will express hate and anger at me. I’m used to it. Yet because of FREEDOM, I’m not offended or discouraged. Gay isn’t who I am, and it is far from defining what I am. I am a father of four children. A grandfather. A salesman. A Christian. A friend. A Republican. A conservative. A trainer. I am Old Superman. A bodybuilder. I am partner to a man with who I’m madly, deeply, and completely in love. Coming out as a Conservative Republican has garnered me more hatred by far from my LGBT friends than coming out of the closet did from my straight friends and family!

Frankly, I was surprised at the hate, anger, and lack of tolerance from my LGBT friends. I have been “un-friended” on Facebook for merely expressing my views. I have been called names, and been treated with intolerance. Some have totally cut me off, and want nothing to do with me. For a community that asks for tolerance, I was taken aback by the lack of tolerance from many. In 2004, the Log Cabin Republicans [took the Federal government to court] over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell [DADT], not the Democrat leadership.

Perhaps Jimmy LaSalvia, the executive director of gay conservative group GOProud, said it best: “The gay left would have you believe that gay conservatives don’t exist. Now we see that almost a third of self-identified gay voters cast ballots for Republican candidates for Congress in this year’s midterm. This should be a wake-up call for the out-of-touch so-called leadership of Gay, Inc. in Washington, D.C., which has become little more than a subsidiary of the Democrat Party.”

Conservative gays are pro life for the most part. Why? Because we believe life should be protected and respected. Isn’t it ironic that if you destroy an eagle egg in the wild, you will be fined $250,000 and serve jail time? Yet kill a human baby because of inconvenience—as 90 percent of all abortions are performed for birth control reasons, and only 1 percent because of the mother’s health—and that’s “OK?” I can also tell you when science discovers the LGBT genes or threads—and mark my words, it will— who do you think is going to abort babies who are genetically set to be LGBT? Who? Yes. It will be the liberals who will. They are the ones who believe in abortion, and that life in general is fallible and needs to be controlled and corrected.

Gay marriage is the least of our problems at this time of our crisis. If the country would accept gay marriage, would that have an impact on national security? Jobs? Our economy? No, it won’t. Everyone needs a job, whether gay or straight. We all know that the younger generation doesn’t care who marries whom. We all know it is only a matter of time when gay marriage will be accepted. Right now though, jobs, the economy, and borders are the issue.

I don’t see the Democratic Party doing anything to help. Nor is there anything in the Democratic Platform to change it.

Ed Cook is a motivational speaker, personal trainer and competitive bodybuilder. A former Fort
Lauderdale resident, he attended Brigham Young University, and lives in North Carolina.