Do the Right Thing

Well, as it stands now, the dominoes have started to fall in the direction of the LGBT community, starting in Indiana. Having said all of that-I have not started my happy dance yet.

It was interesting to me all the different directions where supporting our discrimination came from this time. First and foremost of course the was the omni present religious right. Very simply, they love to make us a very scary example of society's moral decay. Oh, by the way-don't forget to throw whatever you can't afford in the alter plate to build another "super church" this Sunday.

Then-there were who thought simply extending American rights to the LGBT population represented extra government "interference" in society. That was true of course but is far from the first time Just take the Women's Suffrage Movement or the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as examples of our government doing the right thing. Come on now-did all those members of American society deserve equal rights? Generics gaining the right to vote was the beginning to the end of America as we know it?

That's all good but as we all know, perhaps the biggest factor in Indiana's reversal was money.

Many of you who don't know, the state is not just the bucolic, basketball rural state from the classic Hoosiers Gene Hackman movie. It does have it's rural parts of course (as does Ohio) but it also has big cities too, including one called Indianapolis which hosts such "small" events such as the Super Bowl and The NCAA Final Four Basketball Tournament. In case the people in the churches and the conservative legislative community haven't figured it out yet- JOBS are coming more and more from diverse based companies. PLUS, the competition for those companies in this part of the country is incredibly intense. The Cincinnati or Dayton Ohio mayors weren't playing when they said they would welcome Indiana's business.

So here we are, with a little breather. What does it mean on the grass roots level to the typical transgender woman and trans man looking for passing privilege? Very simply, not much and everything. I already know where I can and can't go for the most part. And I am not looking to go to redneck bars on the east side of Cincinnati when Liz and I can go down along the Ohio River and sip coffee or an adult beverage. To the owners there, Liz and I are simply green not lesbian or transgender.

For whatever reason, the right thing happened in Indiana-for the moment. Just have to relax, enjoy it and look for the next challenge. It's just part of the LGBT existence.