This is a little personal for me.

I'm a homosexual, and when I was younger I was (forced) to go to some Baptist churches.

Now let me give a disclaimer, I haven't ever been to a black church, but what I saw in those (probably 95%) white churches was a plethora of hate.

Hate against people like me.  I'll be honest and say that I struggled with my sexuality when I was a young teen, and eventually I did turn away from the church, now I think of myself as agnostic.  Oh course, I was never really conservative, so now that I look back on it, it was an easy break.

Rep. John Lewis (D) on ENDA
http://youtube.com/...

Now this diary is not about ENDA or John Lewis, but it's about the place of the homosexual within the Progressive community.

Within Left and Center-left movements the push has been about breaking down barriers, or structures, or signs (as John Lewis alludes to in this video) within a community or nation.  

We've been trying to break down age-old structures that are inherently racist, or sexist.  Many have tried to break barriers within the economy, to help the working man.  Fewer have tried to break the economic structure itself, viewing it as inherently oppressive.  

What I mean is when pundits anaylyse who got the white vote, who got the latino vote, who got the male vote, who got the female vote.

I understand that there can be trends within different groups, but I just feel as if it's overanalysing and simplyfying the process.

I don't want my vote to be a pure statistic.  Did I vote that way because I'm caucasian, because I'm a male, because I'm a homosexual, or because I'm a progressive?

I probably am making a bigger deal out of this then it really is, it's just that it's seems so... fake.

I think it is a huge mistake for Democrats to be touting fiscal conservatism.  I know that they are trying to say that the Republicans have failed, which they have, but we do not need to be talking like them.

Does it make me a bad Democrat, if I would vote for a Green if he/she was more Progressive?

I'm a Democrat because I believe that the party can be a vehicle for progressive change in this country, not because of cultural reasons, or because my family's democratic.

I was thinking about our three presidential candidates, and how only one of them is truly progressive.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/...

The Turkish centre-right AKP, and the Turkish far rightwing party MHP have agreed on ending the headscarf ban.

A defining agreement was reached yesterday between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on a package of constitutional amendments to remove the headscarf ban in universities.

The left in America is pitiful.  Progressives and liberals cannot say, proudly, I am a leftist!  Or I am on the centre-left.  This is because of a constant demonization by the right-wing and the Republican party.  The sad thing is, is that this is expected.  And yet for decades we haven't fought back properly.

This is my first diary, so I apologize for any spelling mistakes, or anything glaringly wrong about my writing.