Subscriber Spotlight: We'll Call Her Bridget

"Bridget" is a recovering liberal with a secret identity and a story you might recognize

IN CASE YOU’RE NEW HERE, Jenna’s Side Subscriber Spotlight is a perk for paid subscribers who have something they’d like to share with the class. Think of it as show-and-tell for grownups—except instead of Polaroid proof of your questionable ‘80s fashion choices or the first mix tape you ever made, it’s your business, project, purpose, Substack, side hustle, or genius idea. Upgrade today and get yourself on the list!

Fairly early in the plandemic, when I was flapping my massive mouth all over Facebook and “friends” were blocking and unfollowing me left and right, an interesting thing happened: other people began reaching out to me, quietly and privately, to share their support. Some I knew well, others were perfect strangers. “I work in a super progressive field and I’d be fired on the spot if I shared anything you write,” one actual friend confessed. “I just wanted you to know I’m on your page and to say thank you for doing what you’re doing.”

When I tell you that messages like that kept me going in the darkest of days, I am not even exaggerating.

So when Bridget *not her real name but you probably recognize the alias from the comments section* told me her story and explained that she was worried about participating in my Subscriber Spotlight because a) she’s truly terrified of being outed as even quasi-conservative-adjacent-leaning, and b) she thought her tale might be “boring,” I literally begged her to do it (and promised her anonymity). She said she’d consider it… and then a few months went by.

Well, friends, Bridget delighted me recently—and I know she’s about to delight you, too. She warned me that her answers were long and I promised her that I could whittle them down, but TBH I barely touched them. I love every single word and since I’m the boss of me, you’re getting them all. Enjoy!

WHO EVEN ARE YOU?

I’m a Gen X woman (observed, not assigned! Don’t call me “cis”) and mom whose journey to the “dark side” began in 2019 and led to my I-still-can’t-quite-believe-it vote for DJT. Now I’m hidden in plain sight in my deep blue city, with my MSM-consuming neighbors, friends, and family assuming I’m still one of them.

You know the post-election videos of people having insane freakouts about Trump’s win? On election night 2016, that was me. I had the only panic attack of my life when it became clear Trump was going to be president.

Until 2019, I was still a good little liberal progressive, with one exception: my kids were unvaccinated. When NY state leveraged measles hysteria to repeal the religious exemption, I found myself cast as the “other,” and wrestled with the fact that these strident, vicious voices were those of my life-long party.

My kids were kicked out of school, and I couldn’t understand how “My Body, My Choice” didn’t apply to vaccines. What was clear was that my family was no longer welcome at the Democratic table. Well, I didn’t want to sit there anymore! But who was I, if not a liberal progressive? All I knew was the focus of my voting needed to change. I thought I had been voting to save the world! (And yet. Yeah. Wake-up call.)

It still feels surreal to be on the other side, especially after the most recent election and watching almost everyone I know melt down. I actually thought one histrionic friend might need to be hospitalized.

When loved ones reached out to commiserate, I validated their feelings without ever contradicting my beliefs—but I lied by omission. The level of betrayal they would feel if they knew the truth would likely irrevocably break many of these relationships.

All of Bridget’s friends would buy this shirt (I’m guessing).

It wouldn’t matter to them that this wasn’t an elated vote for me, that I’m not lockstep with the right, that I often cringe at what comes out of Trump’s mouth. They would look at me as I used to look at DJT voters, as a “deplorable.” I’m ashamed to admit I used to find that slur hilarious. I’ve been humbled to realize that the “deplorables” I once judged so harshly have turned out to be more open-minded than most liberals I know.

I’m learning to navigate this complex duality. People used to be able to disagree and still love each other! I know from experience that there’s not much I can do to open their eyes, besides occasionally pointing out discrepancies in news stories. I hope some loved ones eventually join me in the land of free thinking.

In the meantime, it’s deeply distressing to see them line up for boosters even when they’ve seen vaccine injury up close. But I understand how hard it is to break ranks with groupthink.

I feel like I’m still in the throes of metamorphosis, which may eventually end with me unfurling my wings in public, and/or moving far away. But for now, I guess I’ll just be a moth fluttering in the dark.

Oh, and Bridget’s a pseudonym. She appeared as soon as NY’s exemption repeal was on the horizon, and became my feisty avatar—the person who could say everything that I wasn’t brave enough to say in person. At some point maybe I need to get a bracelet or something that says Bridget, to maybe own her a little more :)

WHAT’S YOUR ELEVATOR PITCH?

This isn’t a pitch so much as a request for ideas as I try to figure out how to find my people, in person.

I felt unmoored losing the sense of kinship that came with my lifelong liberal identity. The positive: being forced to take a deep look at how I used to formulate opinions has changed how I respond to just about everything. The negative: it’s felt isolating. Since I no longer “identify” with any one ideology, it’s hard to figure out where I fit in.

I don’t have many simpatico friends, so I’ve found solace in Substack for the past several years—anonymously.

But I crave face-to-face connection in a blue city where cancel culture runs rampant. On a local Facebook group, I recently watched the ruthless immolation of someone who dared to post a dissenting thought. It only lacked a David Attenborough voiceover:

“The pack, now alert to his presence, wastes no time—the leader pounces, and the others follow suit, hoping to share in the spoils. The poor creature is swiftly taken down to the bone in this vicious and spectacular display.”

This means I live a bit like a secret agent, suppressing parts of myself to avoid losing clients, friends, and family. But if I could create even a small bubble of authentic in-person community with like-minded souls, I’d feel cocooned.

My blanket assumption is that everyone I meet here is hardcore liberal—but they probably think that of me! So there must be more free thinkers living here. Right??

So, Stack-ers: how do I find these other people who are hiding in plain sight? What ideas do you have (other than being loud and proud)? I admire those who live their truth openly—but with my children in line to deal with any fallout, that feels too risky at present.

I fantasize about some kind of bracelet or pin for us to recognize each other (XX-XY shirts would not fly here). What would it look like/say? If you have any ideas for me to find my people in a way that feels safe-ish, please share—and please be nice! I wouldn’t hide if I didn’t feel the need.

GIVE US SOME DIRT.

In the 2020 election, I felt nauseous and cried in the voting booth casting my first Republican/Libertarian vote. (I voted for a Republican representative I detested, to swing the house; Libertarian for President, because Trump was still “Orange Man Bad.”)

Afterwards, I ghosted a friend who admitted she voted for DJT. She offered to share the information she’d learned that informed her decision, but I recoiled, thinking she’d been brainwashed. I didn’t yet understand that I myself was brainwashed to not look beyond my preconceptions. (I apologized to her this year.)

The pandemic and woke-ism fully brought me over. Lockdowns, my jab refusal leading to losing my job and being ostracized by friends and family, watching Democrats and the MSM call for the heads of the unvaxxed, witnessing the explosion of trans-identifying kids—I feel like I’m living in an alternate universe.

It amuses me to remember how I used to check local polling stats after elections and feel horrified by the small percentage of Republican votes. “WHO ARE THEY?!” I would wonder. And now, I’m one of them. Mwahahaha.

Even if I feel conflicted supporting certain legislators, I’ve made relative peace with always voting for medical freedom and anti-censorship... because if you can’t control your own health and your own narrative, what’s left?

NOW YOU GET TO BRAG!

I’m deeply proud of an artsy business venture I wish I were brave enough to share here. I bet a lot of you would like it. Alas! Maybe some other year. Not much of a brag, but you can congratulate me anyway :)

WHAT’S A HILL YOU’D DIE ON?

I’m most riled up about gender ideology and the loss of objective reality—that’s a big part of why DJT got my vote. As a mom, I want this out of schools! Can we please get back to basics and delete the concept of gender as distinct from sex?

Watching the never-ending parade of labels and flags for every variant of sexuality and identity, I feel like an old man waving his fist and yelling “Get off my lawn! Damn kids!”

I think it’s tragic that so many people feel uncomfortable in their bodies, whether due to social contagion or physical causes like endocrine disruptors. But you can’t erase biological reality. One of the first times I broke ranks with liberal groupthink was when I heard the phrase “trans women are women” and I thought, “Um...what!?”

Men can no more understand the full reality of womanhood than a white kid can understand the black experience. Yet men are celebrated for claiming a female identity, while Rachel Dolezal—the seemingly black president of her local NAACP chapter—was canceled in 2015 when she was outed as white. Why was Dolezal excoriated for “identifying as black,” while men are celebrated and validated for laying claim to womanhood?

I’m also confounded by the hijacking of “they” as a singular pronoun for “non-binary” individuals (see: “Get off my lawn”). I miss the days when I could easily figure out whether the subject of a sentence was singular or plural.

To wit, an extreme example: an acquaintance told me about a nonbinary couple she knows who are parenting a baby they’re referring to as “they.” My friend used the word “they” in turn to describe a) all three of them as a family, b) the nonbinary couple, c) the baby, and d) either one of the parents. Lost yet?

Don’t mind me, I’m just the cranky old TERF [Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist] in the corner.

SHARE SOMETHING GOOD.

Dexter McKinney, Jr. on social media (@dextercrayton) and YouTube has a series called “Judge Judy be Sounding Like a Mob Boss,” in which he lip synchs perfectly to Judge Judy soundbites, while acting the part of a mob boss. They make me laugh out loud every time. Judge Judy is a badass.

WHY DO YOU SUPPORT JENNA’S SIDE?

Jenna is the spoonful of sugar that helps the news go down! Whenever anything big happens—especially if it’s something I’m having a hard time swallowing—I find myself eager for her take on it.

Laughter has always been my coping mechanism in difficult times, and Jenna generously, sassily dishes it out. And how does she always find the perfect meme? (I dearly wish I knew people like her in real life!)

WHAT IF WE WANT MORE?

Find me in the comments! ;)

I know that dozens (hundreds? thousands?) of you have stories, suggestions, and resources you can share that will make Bridget feel less alone. (If not, feel free to drop an attagirl or two in the comments.)

What if we all sent a copy of this book to a suspected Bridget in our lives?