Red State Vermont: High School Voices, pt. 1
By Anika Turcotte
Editor's Note: Turcotte is a correspondent for the VTDigger Underground Workshop for High School students.
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VTDigger Underground Workshop Editor’s Note: Vermonters cast 112,704 votes for Donald Trump and 248,412 votes for Phil Scott last November. The people behind these numbers often have little in common with each other or with traditional political labels. The interviews in this series explore just a few of the wide-ranging perspectives and attitudes among Vermonters who identify as conservative or Republican. They do not represent the views of Vermont’s Republican Party, the student journalists who conducted the interviews, or VTDigger — each of these Vermonters speaks only for themselves. Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
Kyler Quelch playing sled hockey. Photo courtesy of Kyler Quelch.
Kyler Quelch is a senior at U-32 High School in East Montpelier. He has cerebral palsy, a condition that makes him a high-risk individual, and this year he is learning completely remote.
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During the 2020 election, Kyler was following the results closely. Throughout the week, as votes were being counted, he would check the map of the electoral college, constantly refreshing.
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On the Saturday that Joe Biden’s win was announced, Kyler was sitting at home with his dad. As he was scrolling through his phone, he saw the election results.
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“Oh, man,” he thought. “I feel like our country is going to be screwed here.”
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Later that night, Kyler and his dad went over to a friend’s house for dinner. The host family was celebrating Biden’s win, while Kyler was trying his best to keep his mouth shut. He focused on the food and tried his best to put politics out of his mind.
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He changed the conversation and moved past the issue. His fears for the future of the U.S. were not soothed, but he understood that Biden had won:
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“If that is who the American people wanted, you do have to respect that.”
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How do schools approach issues?
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I really didn’t realize what my beliefs really were until about fifth or sixth grade. When they started preaching politics to us and kind of saying, ‘You have to believe things a certain way’ — for me it was kind of difficult because I didn’t believe that I should be restricted as an individual either way.
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I believed that I could do whatever I wanted to do, but I was restricted because they said, ‘You can only do what we tell you to do.’ And it was interesting, too, because I think that’s kind of when I realized I had different opinions, when they started teaching things.
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You know, my freshman year, sophomore year where Black Lives Matter started to come and instead of really talking about those things it was more of ‘let’s take action’ — you never think about what everybody’s opinion is.
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What is one issue you are passionate about?
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You know, I’ve grown up hunting. I took a hunter safety course; my dad took me out when I was a little kid. You know there are certainly a bunch of people who believe that, you know, that’s wrong and you shouldn’t kill animals and all that, but I’ve always grown up with that and that’s just what I do.
Kyler and his father hunting. Photo courtesy of Kyler Quelch.
I got a 92 on my hunter safety course and so I’m very proud of that. I even just did a project on why we should keep the gun rights we do have.
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Whenever it’s been brought up. it’s always been brought up, ‘why we should have gun control,’ or ‘why we should have Black Lives Matter flag,’ but not always ‘why would this be a bad idea,’ or ‘why would people be against it,’ or pros and cons, things from both perspectives. I think there’d be a lot less divide for sure.
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Tell me more about the divide.
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After school once, I hung out with a friend. That friend is very much on the other end of the spectrum. Do I necessarily agree with his views? No. Does he necessarily agree with my views? No.
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But we got heated, in terms of talking about climate change and all that stuff. That is why I don’t like talking about politics a whole lot.
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Have you protested?
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Last year, someone who was friends with some of my friends — I wasn’t really friends with him — actually organized a protest in response to all of the gun control protests.
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I participated in that. With protests generally, I believe it is all right as long as you are respectful about it. Respecting people’s opinions, being honest with people, those are my core beliefs.
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With that one protest, it was actually very peaceful; we all just walked out in the middle of class. Some of us talked quietly but it was pretty respectful. I thought it was really well done.
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What about Republicans on a state level?
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Do I like the governor? Absolutely. I respect the governor. I’ve seen him personally many times. He actually went to a family member’s funeral; he went to a few parties that I have been at; he went to a hockey game of mine.
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So on a personal level I have a lot of respect for him and he is very much an economy guy. I kind of agree with a lot of the economic things he does but in terms of restricting guns, we haven’t done too much yet but we are on our way to a lot more. And I think with the changing of our national leader, I am worried about our guns.
Kyler Quelch geared up for sled hockey. Photo courtesy of Kyler Quelch.
Covid?
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I respect the governor. When he was addressing the people about Covid, he was asked the question about people with physical disabilities and Covid-19 and how those people were struggling and what their plans should be.
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His response was let’s just get the kids back into schools. That’s not the answer. That’s why I think having people with disabilities in politics would be a good thing.
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That started happening in North Carolina with Madison Cawthorn, who is great, and I hope the others follow in his shoes. He is a Republican, and in a wheelchair.
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I think that’s very influential for our group of people. It’s great to have more perspectives like that regardless of political party, people who understand what it’s like to have a disability. I think that’s important.
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Being a high-risk individual, this is where I say we kind of need restrictions. I think personally with the holidays coming up we should kind of lock down.
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This is where my economic mind kind of goes away, because I have asthma, I have cerebral palsy, and having CP, it kind of wears you down, you know?
You don’t have much of an immune system and with having a breathing thing, it’s difficult. If I got it, I’d be put on a ventilator and I don’t know what would happen after that.
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As far as staying alive and all that stuff, that’s why I think it’s important that everyone is following it. People are taking it as a joke and I don’t think they should be. People with disabilities are high-risk.
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To hear it from the government, like ‘Now be careful!’ Who’s going to listen to that?
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But you hear it from somebody whose life — I hate to be dramatic but, it’s kind of dependent on people being careful, you know it kind of gives you a whole different perspective.