My dad was a very conservative Republican businessman, so obviously I considered it a problem when I realized I was a lesbian.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
My mother and father could not handle even me being gay. We never talked about it, really.
I'm a very conservative businessman. I don't work on credit. My father was the guy who taught me how to think straight, not to delude myself and think I was larger than I was.
But I came from a conservative Republican background.
I don't feel, finally, that my politics are entirely determined by the fact that I'm a gay man.
I grew up in a very conservative home.
Naturally, I'm conservative; I'm a Republican. I always was.
As I've gotten older, I've gotten more liberal, and my father is increasingly conservative. It's so shocking to me because I always thought we had the same politics. The day I realized we voted for different presidents, I practically fell out of my chair.
I didn't know I was a conservative when it didn't matter to me growing up.
I grew up conservative because my mum was a conservative, and when I finally realized what conservatives were, I changed my mind immediately.
Remember that I was out of the closet at the age of sixteen. My parents knew I was gay; I'd had to tell them.