Personal Stories of Stigma: I'm Gay and Republican

Stigma is a fact of life for a lot of people.  Now even the unemployed are facing discrimination in their efforts to find jobs.  As part of a series of stories, WFUV News is taking a look at stigma from a variety of perspectives.  WFUV's Will Germain talks with a man who says his political leaning is the subject of stigmatization.

Gregory Angelo is Chairman of the New York Chapter of The Log Cabin Republicans.  Obviously, he's a republican, but he's also gay.  The group is a 30 year old organization that says it works to defend the interests of gay and lesbian Americans by trying to create a more inclusive republican party.  But with President Obama's endorsement of gay marriage, its the left side of the political aisle that's usually thought of as the defender of gay rights.  In fact, Angelo says, he's stigmatized more by gay people for being a republican than by republicans for being gay.

"I find myself far more accpeted as a gay man in republican circles than I do as a republican man in gay circles."

But despite what some may think, Angelo says, its not incompatible to be gay and republican.  

"We're not single issue voters, we look at the entirety, and we also don't like being put into boxes as just gay voters.  We're multi-faceted individuals, just like any other American"

Like anyone else, Angelo says, gay voters are especially concerned with the economy.  After all, he says, if you can't make ends meet how will you pay for your wedding?