Indiana, oh, Indiana

Oh, Indiana. Oh, Hoosiers. How could you? Why did you? But, alas, I know why. And it’s the same reason I moved away all those many long years ago. Living in a state that does not support you, does not embrace your very personhood, is soul crushing. For how can you love a place that does not love you back?

Granted, I grew up in perhaps the most liberal outpost in the deep, blood-red political morass that is Indiana. I was sheltered from the worst of it but was always very (very, very, very) cognizant that just up the road from my hometown was a town that everyone knew use to be a headquarters for the Klu Klux Klan. A town where a young black woman was killed while walking on the street in broad daylight and her murder was never solved.

So this news about Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signing a so-called “Religious Freedom” law that really is just a license to keep discriminating is not surprising. Disappointing, disheartening and disgusting – you-fucking-betcha. But, alas, not surprising.

Because when change comes to the most recalcitrant parts of our society, it never comes cleanly. The news last year that Indiana was the next in a domino of states to open up to same-sex marriage filled me with elation. If Indiana could do it, I thought, how could any other state be far behind? But, again, I forgot about all the kicking and screaming that is involved when dragging some folks into the future.

And this is that – the last desperate kicks and screams of a past howling fruitlessly against the future. For even in his thick, wrong and prehistoric headedness, the Mike Pences of the world have to hide their true intentions. It wasn’t all that long ago where a piece of legislation like this would be openly touted as protection against the homosexual scourge (granted, some supporters still gleefully portrayed it as that). They called it the Defense of Marriage Act not too long ago, remember? Because The Gay had to be defended against at all cost. But in signing the damned bill Pence made sure to claim that this extremely bigoted piece of legislation wasn’t bigoted at all. It was about religious freedom, see? Not hatred, see? Freedom, see? So the good news is they can no longer just be honest and say this is a “Freedom to Discriminate” law. They have to pretend.

But, of course, we all see through it. And while similar bills are snaking their way through similarly weasely state legislatures with similarly conservative governors promising to sign them (I see you, Arkansas and Georgia), their time is limited. What we must do in the face of this sort of retrograde governance is fight that much harder. Sure, marriage equality might be decided once and for all this summer, but what about non-discrimination protection for housing, the workplace and parenting/adoption? What about anti-bulling laws? What about all the protections that help make us full, equal members of our society?

Yes, Indiana reminds us what a long, long way we have yet to go. But it also should invigorate us to do better. And so many Indiana residents have done just that, are doing just that and continue to show their outrage. So for all of my fellow Hoosiers still living in state, may the spirit of perhaps our greatest Hoosier Leslie Knope guide and protect you doing this difficult time. Nope, we can’t put up with this bullshit, Indiana.