I grew up in a home where my Mother was a Democrat and my Father was a Republican. There were some interesting discussions in my home as we approached election times. As a teenager when I formed the foundation of my own personal political philosophy, I realized that there were things I liked and didn't like about both major parties. So I claimed neither as "my" party, I was politically homeless.
Each of the two major political parties were waging war on my life in one way or another: The Democrats wanted to take my money by force, if necessary, in ever-higher taxes and trickle it back to me in ways and amounts that they decided was best for me. And the Republicans wanted to harass me and jail me for loving the person of my choice in a mutually agreed and beneficial relationship. It was very difficult to choose between economic freedom and personal freedom to support a candidate from either of the major parties. But when I found the Libertarian Party, I found my political home.
What is a Libertarian? The word, Libertarian, is not only the name of a political party (the third largest in the nation - much larger than the Reform Party and Green Party put together) but also is a political, social, economic and personal philosophy.
Simply stated, libertarianism is the unshakable belief in Individual Freedom, Personal Responsibility and Tolerance of Individual Diversity. It is the only philosophy that has the real potential for creating peace and harmony between diverse people due to its' emphasis on Individual rights.
Both the party and the philosophy are very compatible with the hopes and dreams of most gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered individuals: we all want to live without fear for our lives, free of coercion from anyone including an oppressive government, free to be who we are as long as we don't interfere in the lives of others without their permission.
Both the gay rights movement and the Libertarian Party encourages us to live more freely in a world that continually tries to limit our freedom. Both strive to inform the public of the plight of those oppressed by government or by groups of people who seek to use government to impose their values on everyone. And both support the activism necessary to achieve the free and tolerant society we all seek.
If most of this sounds good to you, then perhaps you've found your political home in the Libertarian Party.