I am from Iowa.
It's generally perceived as a fairly liberal state. I live in the western edge, near Omaha, Nebraska.
In school, I always was thought of as the most innocent - as a teacher's pet. I was a Christian, I suppose.
My mother brought me to church, my father went along. My father was atheist, and I was always complacent with my religion.
My parents both conflicted me.
My mother encouraged me to go to church, though it never particularly rubbed off on me. Near the beginning of my double digits in age, I felt it. Until one of my friends tried converting a Mormon friend of mine, I started questioning it. After that, I drifted away.
My father and I never particularly connected. We weren't distant. We had our moments, and if there was a kids' movie that came out, I'd beg him to see it. We furnished our basement during my childhood, and he and I would watch cartoons together. I have not stopped loving either of my parents for a moment.
My mother claims to be an independent. She openly backs Republicans for, well, all offices. The sole exception has been when Steve King did surveys about same-sex marriage, which made her question me about, and, of course, she came to vigorously oppose with his bigoted polls.
My father doesn't vote. I'm not sure if he ever has. I am much more open with political discussion with my mother than my father. My mother is very Christian. She has prided herself on never saying anything anti-gay. When I was little, we would watch Ellen as a family (Ellen Degeneres' show where she came out.) My mother is extremely conservative. She has said that she has voted Democratic - though she has refused to say who she voted for. It wasn't particularly - yes - queer - for me to see a same-sex couple on TV, though I do remember my earliest thought of gay people marrying being an odd thought.
That said, my mother, who vehemently is against Obama (*cough* irrationally) has come out more strongly for gay rights than almost any other cause in our conversations. I guess it's true, women are more pro-gay than men, generally. She has said that she is giving Obama a chance - to my niece and nephew whom have been somewhat brainwashed by their parents (and her FOX-living-ness to a degree.) ...Her questioning of the Nobel Prize makes me wonder, though, since it's just a prize... (cough.)
This is more than that, though. Since I was practically a baby, I was raised with racist words. The N word, a certain S word, an F word describing my own demographic, were commonplace from my father.
I didn't say that part. There is more to my father than his blatant bigotry. My father is gentle, he doesn't yell, he will do practically anything for anyone he cares for.
When I was little, we used to often go to a second run theater in an area that was predominantly hispanic. For the most part, he, my sister, and I, would just go and see children's movies, however late in their theatrical run. During this, I had to, of course, put up with constant racial slurs, though I wasn't aware of what they were at the time. I'd hear the N word for anyone who was... well, not white. An S word for anyone who was - well, no to my father's pleasing and who spoke Spanish. The F word, for those who were flamboyant (myself included - though I don't recall it with him.)
I really can't say what happened from there. I remember entering middle and high school with prejudices against hispanic people. I made jokes about them. I spoke to them in a friendly manner, yet thought less of them - even those who knew I was queer and sympathized with me.
I'm not sure that I have a point. I'm sorry if I don't. I just know that when I just now confronted my dad with these ideas he put in my head and the self-hatred he helped instill me, I knew he was wrong as I just now walked home in tears. And if I'm wrong, I'm sorry that I've grown to think of all of humanity as entirely equal. But I can't stop crying for what I've been taught.
[I'm sorry if this isn't very coherent, but a tragic thought just occured to me as I spoke to my father. And, yeah, I'm not entirely sober. Eh.]