As the presidential debate heats up, people start talking about what candidates are running and what party to support. When people think of minorities, many think they would be liberals.

But, that is not always the case.

My mom was born in Colombia and my dad’s family is of German/Irish decent. My family is diverse, one is a Republican, one is a Democrat, and one is Independent. I am usually looked at as a Democrat due to my hispanic heritage but that is completely wrong. I am a Republican.

When many people hear this, the first thing they all ask–in unison– is, “Why?” with a foul look.

There are a variety of reasons as to why I am a republican, and no, it is not because of financial reasons. It is because of religious reasons, and my views on many political issues around the nation.

For example, I am pro-life when it comes to abortion. Abortion in my opinion takes away the God given right to life from a child and the child can never live to its potential.

Another is immigration and although my mother emigrated from Colombia in search of a better life in the U.S., I still feel that illegal immigrants should not be here. I understand why many come here, but they should come through the proper, legal process. The only issue with this, is that becoming a citizen takes way too long for many as it is over 14 years to become naturalized in America.

Overall, my views with many issues are typical conservative views. But like many things, there can be downsides to being a conservative.

Starting with stereotypes, many correlate republicans with negative issues, such as sexism, racism, and white supremacy. None of these stereotypes are true, I am not any of those things.

I have even been called a homophobic because of my political views and in my opinion, that is ridiculous. The constant negativity and attacks that Republicans got through is unnecessary at times. With the media having a Democratic bias and Republicans, it serves as a toxic concoction that can spark an argument or debate at any moment.

Another, is that when people find out that you are a Republican, they assume that you support Donald Trump. This is nowhere near true, there are many other candidates that I can support, such as: Dr. Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, and John Kasich.

Leading Republican candidate Donald Trump has been ridiculed for his stances on many things ranging from Muslims to immigration, at times it looks like the media just makes rapid attempts to slander the Republican party by any means necessary.

With clips from Donald Trump and them analyzing his every single move, it seems that the media only targets Trump. Yes, some of the things he has said is quite absurd,  but they assume that Donald Trump is the poster boy for the party. The Republican nomination is up for grabs by anyone, and the race is far from over, stop using Trump as a way to represent the entire party as a whole.

At times, I feel rather annoyed that I and many others have been looked at differently because of a political view. Conservatives are people, too.