This 'left-leaning' Kentucky resident resents being a 'hate object' for 'our state's Republican politicians'

30 March 2023

Although Kentucky has a centrist Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, it is very much a red state. Louisville, however, is more Democrat-friendly than other parts of Kentucky.

One of Louisville's residents is liberal/progressive Washington Post opinion columnist Perry Bacon, Jr. In his March 30 column, Bacon stresses that the far-right Republicans who control the Kentucky State Legislature are making him feel increasingly unwelcome in the state.

"I really like Louisville and its people, culture, restaurants, schools," Bacon explains. "But I think often about whether my family and I will end up moving somewhere else in a few years. The Republican state legislators who dominate Kentucky's government hate Democrats, Democratic-led cities and liberal values — and are constantly trying to undermine all three. Millions of left-leaning Americans like me live in red states like this one, where the Republican officials are imposing Trump-style policies and looking to 'own the libs' whenever possible."

Kentucky has been conservative for a long time, but Bacon finds that the Republicans who now control its state legislature are especially mean-spirited and divisive.

"I used to think the Republican legislators in Kentucky just had different policy priorities than people like me," Bacon notes. "After all, most of them represent smaller, more white and less densely populated areas than Louisville. But as I have watched them more closely, I have come to realize these Republicans revel in attacking Democrats and liberals and probably would prefer if we just left the state…. Every year, Kentucky Republicans pass provisions attacking Louisville, as well as Lexington, our other major left-leaning city, and Democratic-leaning constituencies across the state."

Bacon grew up in Louisville and moved back there from Washington, D.C. in 2018. But now, he wonders if he made a mistake by returning to a state where MAGA Republicans are so hostile to someone like himself — a “Black person who is strongly supportive of LGBTQ rights, feminism, abortion rights, labor unions, anti-racism and democratic socialism."

"Many people in Louisville, Austin, Boise, Lincoln, Columbus, Birmingham and other blue cities in red states feel the same way," Bacon laments. "We are hate objects for our state's Republican politicians."

Read Perry Bacon, Jr.'s full Washington Post column at this link(subscription required).

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