Once again you center yourself in this discussion, as if the "social consequences" to you are relevant to the discussion.
It's like this: you can't make people like you by whining about the unfairness of them not liking you. It doesn't even matter whether or not you are "right" in some abstract sense, if your righteousness is off-putting. I speak from experience. Now, if you're sure that you're correct, you'd be fully justified in saying, "fuck all y'all, I'm tired of this shit" and going to post elsewhere. I do that from time to time. I had a colleague who went full MAGA. I stopped caring what he thought about me.
It's also like this: people don't have infinite time. We come across more people in our lives than we have time to fully assess. Message boards only exacerbate that problem. So we use shortcuts -- one of which is our past experience with other people who present similarly to the person in question. Our past experience with people who whine about DEI is that they are bitter, crusty and pretty selfish (and self-focused). Maybe you could think a little bit about why the DEI whiners come across that way, but more importantly, it's your job to differentiate yourself from them. If you aren't bitter, crusty and selfish, then you need to show us how. Expecting everyone to judge you anew without reference to their personal experience is a good ticket to frustration and foolishness.
I'm anticipating your reply: isn't this stereotyping? Not really, no. Stereotyping is when you impute a characteristic to a person based on another, unrelated characteristic. Like work ethic and skin color. Or criminality and skin color. Or pretty much anything and skin color. But even if it is stereotyping, it's not objectionable in the way that race or gender stereotypes are, because of this simple fact: YOUR EXPRESSED OPINIONS ARE WITHIN YOUR CONTROL. Skin color and parentage is not. It's also less objectionable because the inferences we are making aren't really intertwined with the pseudo-scientific bullshit that has long been a foundation of racism. These are judgments being made based on people's actions or words, not on some weird theories about the shape of heads.
The reality is that wearing a MAGA hat in public is a choice. It is a choice with predictable consequences: people who loathe MAGA aren't going to have a great impression of you. As with most choices, you are showing the world who you are. There's no moral, natural or statutory law requiring other people to like the person you put on display. If you post the same shit about DEI that we've seen countless times from assholes, then you should expect to get a similar reaction unless you do something to differentiate yourself. And again, if that MAGA hat is important to you, then why are you hanging out with us? Say fuck all y'all and go hang out with other MAGAs.
At a minimum, stop whining. I mean, seriously. There was a time in this country when some people were excluded from various institutions, types of public participation and even education based on their skin color or gender. Some of that still goes on, in the white country clubs or coop boards who are open to admitting minorities if they get "the right applicant." You are not being excluded. You are fully welcome to speak your mind. You can participate just like the rest of us. And like the rest of us, you might or might not be liked based on the opinions you express. Get over yourself and grow up.
