Talking about politics is difficult, but it may be easier when your opinions don’t align wholly with one party. That’s the experience of Jessica Dang, an Inverness resident who founded a group called Conservative Curious in February. Ms. Dang is a registered Republican who identifies as a moderate, but in a county where just 14 percent of voters are Republicans, she is wary of expressing a more conservative viewpoint—and even afraid for her own safety. “I’ve been in the closet for so long,” she said. “But as soon as I stepped out, I noticed that it made it safer for others to do so.” Ms. Dang, who moved to Inverness from the Central Valley in 2016, said the group began informally among friends who felt little support in Marin for a spectrum of views. At the first meeting at a restaurant in Larkspur, 15 people showed up through word of mouth; the now-monthly convenings usually pull around 25 people, only half of whom are regulars. “People who come to Conservative Curious meetups are not necessarily in lockstep on policies: they have different views on vaccinations, gun control or even immigration. But the unifying thing about these gatherings is that everyone wants to talk to each other like civilized people without prejudice. People are craving conversation,” she said. She added that, at the end of the night, what she hears from people is that they “don’t necessarily agree with me, but they agree to disagree. It feels like a very rare dynamic: there isn’t provocation, screaming or shouting. People are listening to each other.” Ms. Dang isn’t sure just what allows for the civility, but believes the self-selecting members are less tied to one political party or another and are more open to different points of views. Unlike the anger that she notices with people more identified with one party, she said people seem to be grateful for the opportunity to “express their thoughts without judgement.” Ms. Dang herself was informed by a wide range of experiences. She grew up in Houston, attended a liberal college and lived in New York City for 13 years. 9/11 was a turning point for her. “The way that liberals were talking about that event: like people deserved to be attacked, deserved to die—it was our fault. It didn’t make sense what I was seeing, which was innocent people dying. The one Republican that I met had a more measured, reasonable reaction that was more compassionate to the people who died, to the firefighters and the policeman,” she said. As far as the subsequent invasion of Iraq, she added, “I think it’s a fact of life that when you are in the thick of things, when you are in the fog of war, you can’t really discern what is happening.” Conversations at Conservative Curious meetups typically don’t cover specific policies; instead, Ms. Dang said people want to get into bigger-picture ideas. On her mind currently is the right to free speech and the theme of socialism. The group meets over food and drink in Larkspur, but on June 4, the group will host its first speaker event: a discussion with Dr. Loretta Breuning, a professor at California State University, East Bay and the author of “How I Escaped Political Correctness and You Can Too,” at the Marriot in Larkspur. Learn more about Conservative Curious at conservativecurious.com.