From 2004 to 2011, just 11.3% of the city’s 2.9 million registered voters were Republican, and some find it easier to keep their status secret than to come out as openly GOP

'How can you be a Republican?': life as part of New York's political minority

At the beginning of August, Alan Hedrick packed his bags and took a trip to Chicago. When his friends in New York City asked where he was going, his answer was vague: a conference.

The 29-year-old is one of the 300 members of the Young Republicans Club in New York and his Illinois break was spent at the 2015 Young Republicans National Convention. But because he lives and works in Chelsea, Hedrick does not always feel comfortable sharing his political views and activity with his friends, who are very liberal. “It’s easier to just not say what I am doing than to deal with them berating me,” he says.

As the 2016 presidential election approaches, political discourse in America is heating up – be it on cable TV, talk radio or even your Facebook feed. With it, young Republicans – especially those who live in liberal urban areas and tend to be more moderate –find that they’re constantly tasked with defending their views. Consequently, some feel it’s easier to keep their political affiliation on the down low.

Hedrick, who works as a real estate agent, has been part of the New York Young Republicans club since moving here four years ago from Colorado.

“New York is a hard place to move to. It helps to have people who are like-minded to just get the conversation moving,” he said. “I find it hard living here because I don’t judge anyone else’s political views. But when I tell people that I am a Republican, they go: ‘How can you be a Republican? I can’t believe you.’”

Hedrick said he has lost friendships over political differences. Some of his gay friends believe that the Republican party is about limiting their rights to marry.

“I don’t necessarily follow those platform politics,” said Hedrick, who described himself as “very social liberal” and “more of a libertarian”. According to him, government, including the Republican party, should not be dictating morality.

“People think that just because you are a Republican makes you part of the Tea Party or [are a] right wing, Christian conservative, which is not necessarily the case,” Hedrick explained. “The Republican party is a combination of things, just like the Democrats. You have your very social liberals like Bernie Sanders, and you have your moderates like Hillary Clinton.”

RD Ferman, 37, is also member of the New York Young Republicans club. He says that conversations about his political views often feel invasive.

“They make feel like I am being interrogated, asking me about my position on abortion”, says Ferman, who works in finance and is nicknamed “red state”. “Essentially, what people think is that before work, I got to a shooting range or that I recite scriptures. Which is absolutely not true.”

Not everyone has the same experience, however.

Eyvana Bengochea, 21, is about to enter her senior year at Columbia University, where she served as president of the Columbia University College Republicans for a year until this summer. According to her, attending college where professors she admired disagreed with her politically challenged her and allowed her to be “productively criticized” in an academic setting.

“Political ideas are allowed to clash in a learning environment. So even if we are in New York, at Columbia, I don’t necessarily have to hide my views, rather I have to be able to defend them and grapple with views of other people.”

After a brief pause, she continued: “I think explain would be a better word. I think defend is a little bit strong. I definitely, at times, happily would explain [my views] to people.” Democrats, who are the norm at liberal colleges, don’t have to explain their politics, she added.

“It’s mainstream so people understand those ideas or they relate to them better than the ones they aren’t encountering,” Bengochea said, adding that there is a lot more common ground between young Republicans and Democrats than “is let on by the mainstream media”.

The problem with the Republican party is that there are too many different voices and, unfortunately, people who scream louder than others get the attention, said Hedrick, referring to Donald Trump. “I feel like the media helps to highlight those crazy voices in the party, when that’s not really where the majority of the party stands.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Hedrick: ‘There are so many different voices in the Republican Party that it’s hard to define one set voice.’ Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

What’s the one misconception about Republicans that Hedrick would like to change?

“That we hate people. That we are heartless. That’s not true at all,” he explained. “The war on gays, the war on women, the war on low-income class. I think that may be true for some people but it’s not true for everyone.”

The biggest minority in New York City

“I like to jokingly refer to it as coming out of the closet. I tell people all the time that I am out of the closet Republican. Meaning that I say openly: ‘Yes, I am a Republican voter.’ That’s the biggest minority in New York City,” Ferman said, chuckling.

Republicans have long been a minority among registered voters in New York.

In 2004, the number of registered Republicans in New York City was just 13% of the 3.7 million registered voters. Just 9.3% of voters in Bronx were Republican, 12.1% in Brooklyn, 14.1% in Manhattan and 18.1% in Queens. On the other hand, the number of registered Republicans on Staten Island was 37.8%. At that time, Republicans in New York were more likely to own a home, and about a third had $75,000 or more in income.

From 2004 to 2011, just 11.3% of 2.9 million registered voters in New York identified as Republicans.

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While certain urban area residents are more likely to be registered as Democrats, metropolitan areas tend to be hubs for Republican organizing. That’s especially true for LGBT Republican organizing, according to Gregory Angelo, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, an organization representing gay conservatives.

“In a sense, one of the purposes that Log Cabin Republicans’ local chapters serve in urban parts of the country is that they are a meeting place. A safe space, if you will, where LGBT peoplecan talk about the reasons why they are Republican and socialize with other republicans who understand those reasons,” he said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Republican presidential candidate Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker at the RedState Gathering in August. Photograph: David Goldman/AP

Being Gay and Republican: not single issue voters

There is no survey or a study that details the number of people who conceal their political affiliation, said Angelo, but it certainly happens.

“I joke with people sometimes saying that when you are a gay Republican, often times you have to come out twice. First as gay or LGBT and then as a Republican.”

Caitlyn Jenner turned heads by coming out as a transgender Republican, Angelo points out. Many were surprised earlier this year, when in her interview with Dianne Sawyer, Jenner said that she is “more on the conservative side” and that “neither political party has a monopoly on understanding”. When asked by Sawyer if she was Republican, Jenner replied: “Yeah. Is that a bad thing? I believe in the constitution.”

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“I am often asked how can you be gay and a Republican and the answer is simple: Log Cabin Republicans by large are not single issue voters. We do not allow ourselves to be defined exclusively by our sexual orientation and depending on the election cycle there are entire spectrums of issues that are relevant to individuals who are LGBT,” said Angelo.

“It’s not just about marriage equality. It’s not just about LGBT non-discrimination. Those issues are certainly relevant but there are equally relevant issues regarding taxes, government spending, national defense, terrible manner in which LGBT people are treated by nations abroad that do not count the US among their allies, second amendment protections, choice of healthcare ... the list goes on.”

It’s not that gay Republicans are unaware of their party’s stance on gay equality – it’s just that their views on other issues are more aligned with Republican party’s platform than that of Democratic party, explained Angelo.

It’s such a cracking good time at CPAC. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Still a way to go

Being a moderate Republican or gay Republican can often feel like a double-edged sword – you do not feel entirely welcomed in Democratic-leaning areas, but you also do not fit within your own party either. In fact, Republicans often refer to more moderate members of their party as RINO - Republicans in name only.

Yet according to some, Republicans are getting better at embracing their more moderate members. For example, Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the popular annual conservative gathering, featured gay panelists this year.

Compared to 2006, when he moved to New York, Ferman said he sees more people openly identifying as Republican.

“There is more progress to be made for sure, but I do see an increased number of people openly saying that: ‘Yes, I am a Republican voter’ or ‘I support this guy’. ‘I support Rubio’, ‘I support Cruz’ or even on some occasions: ‘I support Trump’. I see that a hell of a lot more than I did 10 years ago,” he said.

“This is encouraging to me.”

Hedrick takes a more realistic approach.

“Politics isn’t everything. It’s an aspect, a small sliver of our lives,” he said. “If you come at it with the ‘be all, end all’ approach, you’re going to be greatly disappointed with your party.”