This year, we’ll decide the fate of our nation for the next four. The presidential race is looming and we have to decide what kind of nation we’ll be. With that there are many factors, and no one will ever be 100 percent happy about it.

Democrats will vote Democrat, and Republicans will vote Republican. Do you want to be on the side of the people or of big business? Here are some major issues facing our nation.

Gun Control

There is a problem. Both political parties say there is a problem in some fashion. Democrats wish there to be more regulation on who can buy a gun (because in most mass shootings, guns were purchased legally), and Republicans wish to arm every citizen as a solution.

While there is no clear answer on what to do about gun violence, we cannot continue doing nothing.

President Barack Obama, thankfully, is making it so a person’s mental health history is part of the background check. It a no-brainer and a good policy.

Muslims

Donald Trump is a dangerous man. For one, it’s hard to know if he believes what he says or if he’s just blowing smoke to get elected. So either he’s a liar or he’s a fascist.

Trump said that he wants to stop Muslims from entering the country “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” I’m not sure what that means, but it’s the equivalent of banning guns “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” And guns actually kill or wound hundreds of people in this country every single day ”” according to the Brady Campaign ”” and Muslims don’t.

Under a Trump presidency, don’t be surprised when Muslim concentration camps become accepted. It’s not far of a leap from banning Muslims from entering to relocating the Muslim people who are already here. We did it with Japanese people (and people we thought looked Japanese) during World War II. It can happen again, and it will if we keep reacting to the panic button Trump is pushing.

Gay Rights

The Supreme Court unilaterally legalized gay marriage in 2015, but many Republican candidates vehemently disagree ”” because Jesus.

Since I am gay man, Ted Cruz scares me. He desperately wants to roll back civil rights for gay Americans. He, along with many others, wants to ban gays from serving in the military. It’s always comical because these people usually skirted military service themselves. So why would you want to ban people who wish to fight for this country from doing so?

Under Obama, the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was abolished allowing gays to serve openly, and it hasn’t caused the total collapse of the military as opponents wished everyone to believe.

Has Obama achieved equal rights for gays completely? No, but he’s moved the needle. Gays still can’t donate blood without being celibate for 10 years first ”” which isn’t much better than the archaic policy born from the 1980s fear of HIV and AIDS which banned gays from donating blood altogether.

If people like Cruz had their way, gays might be deported along with Trump’s Muslims. People like me have always been second-class citizens, and Republicans seem intent on continuing that tradition.

Refugees

Banning refugees demonstrates the Republican Party’s complete lack of empathy. Every Republican stance these days seems to want to punish human beings.

Wanting to ban refugees from this country gives aid to ISIS. Do you know why they are fleeing their land? It’s because of the heinous acts committed by ISIS and others. These people are literally the enemies of ISIS. Why wouldn’t we want to help ISIS’s enemies?

Plus, in a country with a population of 400 million, the 100,000 refugees Obama wants to bring in are a drop in the bucket.

These people aren’t terrorists. There is no evidence that any domestic terrorism has ever been committed by a refugee. Ever. But Republicans desperately want you to believe that they are terrorists wanting us to feel bad about them.

It’s also much easier to get into the country with a visa than it is to get refugee status. So refugees aren’t an appropriate group to be scrutinizing for potential terrorists in the first place.

Planned Parenthood

This program is essential for many Americans. One in five women use it. Republicans want to do away with Planned Parenthood on the sole basis of videos that contained out of context conversations and the unborn fetus “harvesting” which was proven to have been falsified and have no basis in reality.

Meanwhile, abortions are only about 3 percent of what the organization does ”” none of which are funded through federal dollars.

Most of the services Planned Parenthood offers are for women’s health. Also, Republicans are desperate to repeal the Affordable Heathcare Act (having tried to repeal it more than 60 times already instead of doing any real governing), which would uninsure millions of Americans and additionally demonstrates Republicans lack of empathy toward the health of our citizens.

For whatever reason, this new Republican party we’ve seen born in the last decade is very anti-person. It panders to the rich whilst seeming content to let the poor die.