When I was in college, I joined a fraternity. It was exclusive, and the organization could expel members. But that’s a college fraternity, not a political party.

Look, I’m not afraid to say it: I’m a Democrat. However, that does not mean that I am happy with every Democrat who seeks public office. I would be more than happy to leave a ballot box unchecked if I thought that the candidates were unworthy of holding the office or even supporting a candidate more progressive/liberal than the Democrat on the ballot.

With that said, the Democratic Party of Hawaii shouldn’t be expelling any of its members for openly supporting non-Democrats. As a party, we pride ourselves on diversity. We sent the first Japanese-American to the U.S. Senate, elected the nation’s first Asian-American governor and the nation’s first Hindu congresswoman.

That means the party should not close its door on those that have differences of opinion or support non-Democratic candidates. Those differences of opinion make us diverse.

The argument behind the headline-grabbing complaint last week that Chelsea Lyons Kent should be shown the party door was that her nationally televised one-finger salute was “embarrassing and a shame” and that she does not support the party platform or the Democratic presidential nominee.

If this is the case, the party would have to expel many more of its members. Several instances come to mind, like the disputes between Democrats during the 2013 special legislative session on marriage equality or the times several Democrats got arrested for campaign finance fraud and driving under the influence.

In 2012, the Democratic Party of Hawaii passed resolutions to its platform in support of marriage equality, but if you look at the votes on the House floor, not every Democrat fell in line and voted for it in 2013 during the special session. Some even voted no. Some Democrats who voted against marriage equality rationalized their votes by saying their constituents wanted them to vote a certain way. That could be true because nearly all of were re-elected.

The national party knows that it cannot afford to lose any more of its members, and Democrats need to realize that here in Hawaii, as well.

If the party had expelled those elected officials over their vote, the Democrats would have lost members in the House and Senate. So the question becomes whether or not voting in the interest of their constituents is grounds for expulsion from the party. The answer is no.

The words “embarrassing and a shame” are subjective because we each interpret those words very differently. While I find Kent’s actions embarrassing and a shame, can we honestly say that they are more embarrassing than the time when then-Democrat Councilman Rod Tam committed finance fraud and was convicted or the other countless times elected officials were convicted for something similar or something worse?

During those times, I don’t recall party members seeking expulsion of these officials from the party. Kent’s actions may seem deplorable, but they are nothing compared to law breaking.

However, the biggest shock to everyone should be that we are trying to expel party members who are not supporting the party’s nominee or candidates. Here is a lesson that the party can learn from the Republicans.

The 2016 Republican nominee, Donald Trump, is by far the most controversial major party presidential candidate in the nation’s history, and already many high profile Republicans are flocking to Hillary Clinton. However, there are no calls for the Republican Party to drop membership for those officials openly supporting Clinton or another candidate.

The national party knows that it cannot afford to lose any more of its members, and Democrats need to realize that here in Hawaii, as well. Already there has been a decline in membership since Clinton’s nomination, and some Democrats are moving away from the party.

This year’s election cycle should serve as a wake-up call to Democrats that they should allow their members to openly support other candidates in case a fringe candidate like Trump surfaced within their ranks.

It’s unlikely that Democrats would nominate a fringe candidate. Many thought Sen. Bernie Sanders was such a candidate, but he was better than any of the Republicans and at least stuck to facts and made sense. However, let’s imagine for just a second that we nominated a Trump-like candidate or an Angela Kaaihue-like candidate to carries the party banner into the general election while making racist, bigoted remarks. I would not support that candidate, and no one else should, either.

Now there is another criterion that party members have to face, which is that they need to support Democrats in non-partisan races. Part of the reason why races at the county level are non-partisan is because the issues at that level should not be partisan.

When did becoming a Democrat become similar to being in a college fraternity, where you need to pledge your loyalty or risk being expelled?

This all sounds ridiculous. The Democrats should not be excluding or expelling members. If their members do not wish to support their candidates, their platform or hold themselves to a higher expectation, they may well be willing to leave on their own. They should be allowed to make that choice without being pushed out.