I just really disagree that what I consider basic human rights and decency can be considered as politics or political.
I don't feel that my right to exist while being a member of several minorities is a political opinion. Also, I said I wouldn't get I to it but alas, I can't refrain, I think "both sides" is just factually wrong. As there is one side that is pro civil rights, pro choice, pro LGBT, pro gun control, pro net neutrality, pro environment, pro helping those in need, and anti racist, and then there is the other side that has it in their official agenda they are against these things. Yet I keep being told that somehow they're the same.
I personally can not find it in myself to be friends with anyone who'd try to debate away my very right to exist and then merely suggest it falls under the banner of political opinion.
So, yeah, I have lost relationships from those I used to respect, and I agree it's hard to go through but for me, it's better than the alternative. Also if anyone tries to use the term "SJW" non ironically and to criticize those who actually want true social justice, they're personally not worth my time anyway.
I can certainly understand your feelings about your right to exist and why political stances could create those issues but there was a great quote in the movie Defiance where the Jews were hiding in the forest and the quote from the rabbi
"To the west there is a man with a little moustache who wants to kill us and to the east a man with a big moustache that wants to kill us"
To summarize, this is usually why I am cautious because I take a completely different stance on certain issues for various reasons and do not fall in line and I certainly want to bring up a couple of points here.
-The topic of immigration comes up here constantly from both sides; one side wants more strict immigration policies while the other wants more lax immigration controls.
My wife was born in Colombia so I understand how the immigration policies work, additionally my wifes family all have tourist visas to come here and had to go through various screening. My wife has been in the country for 6 years and now speaks fluent English. She is probably far more conservative on immigration policy than I am and much of her family in Texas is the same because they worked hard for it.
The particular issue is that it is very difficult to have this discussion with others because if you were to ask some Conservatives, they will give you a hardline answer, with some Liberals it is the same. What I can say is that Colombia has immigration controls, Japan also has very strict immigration policies that forbid felons from making it past immigration, there was even a situation where Japan was offering to pay Brazilians to have them leave and not return.
The specific reason I bring this up is that the discussion immediately turns to a conservative = anti immigration liberal = pro immigration when that hasn't always been the case, and you can see this in some of Bill Clintons early speeches or Roosevelts policies towards Germans Italians and Japanese.
Regarding the other issues you mentioned regarding pro choice, civil rights, gun control, lgbt, pro environment, that is also subjective. You have Republicans who are completely pro gun control like Mitt Romney and Rudy Guiliani who were for strict gun control yet others who were far more liberal like Ron Paul who opposed any restrictions. I cannot think of anyone who would be against civil rights unless we are talking about David Duke, LGBT is more of an issue with the religious conservative but Libertarians support the rights of individual freedom so I don't feel any different about a persons choice.
Regarding the term SJW, it's a specific connotation in reference to a particular ideology that one follows same as the extreme right are nazi or fascist. Much of these terms came about during the gamer gate controversy and there were people legitimately affected like Daniel Vavra who was developing Kingdom Come Deliverance and the media/Kotaku were basically boycotting any reviews or acknowledment of the game as Daniel Vavra did not want to change a historically accurate game to be inclusive without reason. This was the same Kotaku that claimed Shenmue was dead.
Look I am open to dialogue, I don't hate anyone and I don't want you to feel like I want to deprive you of anything. If I ran a bakery I would serve everyone, if you were an illegal immigrant I wouldnt ask you questions about your status or call USCIS, if you were concealing a weapon and were a law abiding citizen I don't want to know, that's your business and as long as you aren't pulling it out threatening others unless you are defending yourself, I won't question you. If you are a woman wearing a birth control device or a guy wearing a dress, I don't care, if we can have a beer together and play Shenmue, you are ok in my book.
The only exception to that is when it personally affects my family, my extended family, my son or myself. When someone is attempting to confiscate my property or tell me what I can play, watch, how many guns I can own, what music I can listen to, what my wife and I do in our private bedroom, or where I can live and it isn't harming others, that is where I draw my line.
I grew up with a Jewish father and a mom who is (present as she is still alive) German although she converted to Judaism. Being half and half was always difficult because other Jews never saw me as really Jewish and the idea I had a German mom was particularly difficult for them to accept. On the other hand, those who hate Jews simply were able to identify me based on my last name and living in what is technically the deep south, I have experienced some of the worst things a person could say to another individual. Ironically I have also been very forgiving in many cases and seen people change after just chatting with them.
Being exposed to Southern culture as someone who grew up a city boy also opened my mind more to understanding small town issues and that people are just people no matter where you go. I probably would have never learned about guns before I moved here.