Liberals And Conservatives Are Sharing The Political Views That Make Them Total Outsiders In Their Own Party, And Some Of The Responses Are Suuuuuper Unexpected

Hi. My name is Michaela, and last year, during one of the most dramatic election years in US history, I started a series on the site called "BuzzFeed's Political Diaries," where I asked readers from all over the country who they were planning to vote for and what political issues mattered most to them.
Over the course of a year, I received hundreds of fascinating political takes from people of different races, genders, age groups, and locations, and was able to show what voters were really thinking.
Now, as our country seems to be more divided than ever under a second Trump administration, I'm asking BuzzFeeders to share a political opinion they hold that aligns more with the beliefs of the opposite party.
I was inspired by this TikTok video and the comments people left that prove many political issues aren't black and white! Check it out for yourself!
Here are the most interesting responses I received:
1."I can't believe I even have to say this. I've been a Republican for my entire life (I believe in a smaller government and less taxes), and I don't agree with MAGA at all. Especially not the part about absolutely ruining the LGBTQ+ community's lives."
"I am a straight male, so I can't really offer perspective on what they're going through, but even I know that you can't treat people like second-class citizens. It makes me sad that a once great party turned into this."
2."I'm a Democrat and I believe anti-public 'camping' laws should be strictly enforced and offenders arrested. In other words, make all cities unfriendly to homeless people so we can take back our parks, sidewalks, recreation areas, and downtowns can be a jewel again."
—Anonymous
3."I believe in transgender rights, gay marriage, and abortion. I'm a conservative, and one of the original beliefs of conservatism was 'limited government.'"
"I do not care how you identify, who you love/marry, or what you do with your body. As long as it doesn't affect me, who am I to care what you do? The Right should adopt the same view: as long as something doesn't personally affect you or your daily life, why does it matter? Who gives a fuck what other people are doing if it doesn't affect you?"—Anonymous
4."As a Democrat, I think positively of the George H.W. Bush presidency. He signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, making it illegal to discriminate based on disability. As someone on the Autism Spectrum, I am thankful for it because I would not have the things I need to be successful in school and in life if it were not signed."
—Anonymous
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5."I am a hardcore Republican all the way, but I strongly disagree with some of the pardons Donald Trump has done/alluded to (example, potentially pardoning Diddy)."
—Anonymous
6."I'm a Democrat, and I believe that biological men don't belong in women's sports, and especially our locker rooms. They can have their own leagues/rooms. It's crazy to me that so many people, especially other women, are so eager to allow that to happen."
"We women have worked too hard and come too far for men to take that from us. I'd obviously rather have a biological man in women's sports than women dying unnecessarily in childbirth. I think Republicans support women much less, of course, but neither party stands with biological women right now."—Anonymous
7."I'm a far left progressive who believes that Israel deserves and needs to exist, full stop."
"I do believe in a two-state solution ultimately, but as a Jew, Israel is important to me as our historical homeland, and I find all the 'settler-colonialist' arguments against Israel on the left to be deeply historically ignorant, cruel, and offensive to the core. It is antisemitism to deny Jews alone the right to a state in their ancestral homeland, and no one will convince me otherwise."—Anonymous
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8."I'm a Republican, and I disagree with what Trump is doing to this country, especially all the deportations of innocent people who have the legal right to be here!"
—Anonymous
9."I'm an Independent who leans Democrat. I'm generally okay with people owning guns for a lot of reasons if they get proper training first. Ironically, I'm also fine with the Death Penalty existing."
"I think it should be limited to mass-murderers, serial sex offenders (more specifically like serial rapists and/or serial pedophiles), and serial killers. This is mostly to prevent people with false convictions from getting killed by mistake."—Anonymous
10."As Democrats, we need to stop focusing on policing words. They're just words. I can think of maybe TWO slurs that should just never be used, but the rest? Honestly? Who fucking cares!?!"
"We need to focus on equity, visibility, reintroducing the idea of community; if people know trans people personally, for example, they are far less likely to use a transphobic term. But if all you do is tell people 'don't do something' without anything but the ephemeral 'people get offended,' that's not only going to NOT prevent them from saying whatever it was, but will make them do it with more vigor because 'no one tells an AMERICAN what to say.' Creating and DEFENDING inclusive practices is what we need, not performative bullshit. And, seriously, people in general need to stop looking for reasons to be offended."—Anonymous
11."I am a Democrat, but really a moderate. I agree with a lot of the societal and cultural positions aligned with the Democratic Party. However, I do think that sometimes, you do have to steamroll and say screw bipartisanship."
"The Republicans have always said screw bipartisanship when they really wanted to get something done and it's worked in their favor every time. When you have the larger number, sometimes it does make the most sense to use that to your advantage. I will probably never forgive the Biden administration for not adding more progressive judges to the Supreme Court to balance the scales."—Anonymous
12."As a Democrat, I firmly believe some of the policies that the Democrats fight for, like what Kamala ran on, are not popular with the public as much as they believe it is, and that's a big part of why we lost last year."
"There are other factors too, but that's a big part. Biden's policies were unpopular, and her choices to align with those policies hurt her instead of benefiting, because the majority of people clearly didn't like what he was doing, and she was an extension."—Anonymous
13."I'm an independent, and I believe life for kids got worse once moms had to get a job. With or without a husband, being a mom is hard, constant work, and adding a full-time job to that is not family-friendly at all."
—Anonymous
14."I'm a Democrat and I 100% believe that people convicted of despicable crimes should receive the death penalty."
And finally...
15."The left needs to drop the moral argument from their campaign strategy. The popular vote said that more than half the country doesn't care if you're a convicted rapist that doesn't know the first line of the Constitution, you can still be president. So why do we keep arguing the point?"
"Stick to policy, and for half the country, you'll have to write it on crayon, but show that democratic policies are better for everyday Americans. Show them how and why. Become the party of the working class, because there's a hell of a lot more of us than there are of them."—coollegend378
What are your thoughts? Share the political opinion that would make you the black sheep of your party in the comments below.
Responses have been edited for length/clarity.
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