Smith (pictured) is a registered Democrat and was raised in a liberal working-class family in Ohio, but said the outrage culture he has experienced on the left has led him to become conservative

A black, gay Army veteran has 'come out' as conservative because of the 'outrage culture' he said he has experienced within the Democratic Party.

Rob Smith, author of a 2017 book about being a gay man in the military during the 'don't' ask, don't' tell' era, is a registered Democrat and was raised in a liberal working-class family in Ohio. But he said that over the past couple of years what he considers to be left-wing outrage culture has pushed him to become conservative.

He did not vote in the 2016 election but wants to buck what hedon't make any sense. And it was actually very right of a lot of people to denounce that.

'I think that it was very easy for people to hop on those comments and focus on those comments to completely discredit everything else that he had said before.'

Smith (pictured around 2000) was in the Army from 2000 to 2005 and served in two Middle East tours – one in Kuwait and one in Iraq. It was during his time in the military when he realized he was gay, despite the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy for the armed services

In November 2010, Smith and 12 other activists (pictured), both military and civilian, handcuffed themselves to the White House fence to protest 'don't ask, don't tell' and were arrested

A year after the