Love is Love is Love

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While it’s true that many Libertarians (capital L for party affiliation) relate to traditionally conservative ideas such as small government, national defense, and free markets; it is also true that those same Libertarians envision limiting government’s power, restricting military to home-based defensive tactics, and dismantling government-led monopolies in markets like education.

It’s the details that matter, not the broad-stroke soundbites used by so many cable-TV, seventh-grade-reading-level pundits.

Libertarians are first and foremost in favor of a free society. “Libertarians strongly oppose any government interference in your personal, family, and business decisions. Essentially, we believe all Americans should be free to live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit as long as they do no harm to another.” (LP.org website)

For a Libertarian, the details around who a person loves are personal and, as such, not subject to government intervention, regulation, posturing, or proselytizing. In the decades since the Stonewall riots, libertarians have been staunch advocates and allies for the LGBTQ+ community.

The Libertarian Party’s platform plank 1.4 states:

“Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government’s treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration, or military service laws. Government does not have the authority to define, promote, license, or restrict personal relationships, regardless of the number of participants. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships. Until such time as the government stops its illegitimate practice of marriage licensing, such licenses must be granted to all consenting adults who apply.”

We submit that love is at the heart of liberty.

For only by loving one another as much as we love ourselves can we trust one another to pursue their interests without harming others. Only by loving one another can we tirelessly defend our rights against those who would seek to judge, oppress, outlaw, or criminalize according to their own moral code.

We in the South Carolina Libertarian Party are not making political hay of our LGBTQ+ community’s concerns and challenges. We are not jumping on a popular social bandwagon in the hopes of winning GenZ voters. Rather, the SCLP believes so strongly in all individuals’ right to determine their own family status, that we would not advocate or support any government behavior that elevates one class of citizens over another or polices or punishes personal relationships.

We are in favor of normalizing gender identity and sexual orientation conversations. We support any and all consensual adult pairings and polyamorous relationships. We reject the liberal narrative of using state functions and funding to promote equality and punish bigots. We reject the conservative narrative that all gay people are liberal spendthrifts looking for government protection.

We accept that individuals are people first. That their political ideas and incentives are not derived from their gender or sexuality, but from their experience and values. We believe freedom and liberty extends to all people. And it is with love that we celebrate our own freedoms which are only ours if they belong to all people.

The South Carolina Libertarian Party is proud to be a Gold-level sponsor of the Famously Hot South Carolina Pride weekend, October 22-23, 2021. It is in keeping with our values and principles that we do so.