During the course of my duties as a speaker for queer rights and Second Amendment rights, I have encountered a fair bit of flak from both sides. The Extreme Left loves that I'm queer but hates that I'm pro-gun, whereas the Extreme Right loves that I'm pro-gun but really wants me to shut up about being queer.
As a result of this experience, I've noticed a distinct but repeatable difference between how the Left and the Right deal with people to whom they object. I've spoken about this before, but to the best of my knowledge I've never codified it in print until now. This may not be a new discovery, but I haven't seen anyone else express it like this.
When the Left objects to you, they unperson you. On social media this results in unfriending and likely blocking; in real life this is typically a call for you to be silenced via job loss and deplatforming. On the one hand, this behavior is refreshing in that you know exactly where you stand with them; there is no ambiguity, no what-ifs. On the other hand, this state of affairs makes it effectively impossible to repair that relationship, should you desire that; you will have to wait for them to wish it, which is difficult because you have been excluded from their lives and their minds.
When the Right objects to you, the exact opposite happens: they don't want you censored, they want you and your opinions put on the stand so that they and others can argue with you. Sometimes this argument is a good-faith debate, sometimes it boils down to little more than an "I'm right and you're wrong and I can mathematically prove you're a piece of shit" diatribe, but whatever the format, they hardly ever break off communication. Now sometimes that communication isn't worth the effort, but it's still there, and they will frequently seek you out, even (especially) when you want them to leave you alone.
This could probably be reduced to "The Left blocks you, and the Right makes you block them," but I feel that's an over-simplification. It's also an over-simplification to say that the Right wants logic and the Left wants emotional connection. I think it might be fairest to say that it's about prioritization of resource management.
Do with this information what you will.
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Isn't it ironic that Jonathan Rauch, a gay man, wrote a book, Kindly Inquisitors, arguing that the solution to speech you don't like is the "right's" solution. Make it public and discuss it.
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