Ryan Short, a gay guy residing in Seattle, Washington, spoke to his father on the phone on Tuesday night. His father, Richard Short, an 80-year-old retired war veteran who lives in Dallas, Texas, revealed to his son during the conversation that he is still a Republican.
Despite the party’s recent hostility against Gay individuals, Short questioned if he still supported it. Father responded “yes.”
Short was motivated by the remark to send an email to hundreds of family members on Wednesday in which he pleaded with them to quit supporting the GOP and instead support him and his other LGBT relatives.
Short, who is 42 and considers himself to be middle-aged, said he didn’t want to spend any more time on things that aren’t adding light to his life.
Short sent the email and posted a screenshot of it to Twitter along with a text exchange with a relative, who at first did not reply favorably.
“I am writing. Delivered with haughty authority, briefly penned. Since then, the article has received more than 15,000 likes and more than 3,000 retweets on social media sites. Several endorsed Short’s decision to issue the ultimatum. But, several commenters felt he went too far.”
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Son’s Email to Family Goes Viral
Short told Insider that after sharing the email on Twitter, college students and trans-20-somethings started messaging him to ask if they could replicate what he said and send it to their own families. One person requested permission to distribute the letter in a Google Doc.
Short said that his family is not homophobic and that he has many Homosexual family members. Nearly everyone on the email chain, according to Short, answered favorably and said they would no longer be voting for Republicans as he requested.
He originally reacted badly and immediately, without thinking, according to Richard, his father. Richard Short claimed that until his wife and a different acquaintance conveyed what he had read to him, he had no idea what he had read. In the end, he consented to cease supporting Republican candidates, and he and his son were reunited.
Richard Short told Insider on Thursday that in addition to making the decision to never again vote Republican, he had also resigned from the Collin County, Texas, Republican Club to which he belonged.
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