how boring must indiana be to think of this as fun

so IML otm I guess

land of rhubarb unbridled

^^ your memoir title

posthumous memoir title. i will be killed by a lawn dart.

http://i.imgur.com/uq88ZrR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/nQZwyC7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Pax9SxU.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/u01wNU3l.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/cAOlElg.jpg

making a quilt of those images to wrap my son in so that he'll understand

Here's what I remember most from my time in Indiana:

http://i.imgur.com/CrUc0Fc.jpg

follow your arrow, man

I don't get it, so many lights and I only get to obey one?

guy from Girls that's in new Star Wars knew which signal was his
http://www.visitmishawaka.com/INFO/clientImages/MHSphoto.gif

Ed Kilgore's worth a read.

A pizzeria in Walkerton becomes the first.

A small-town pizza shop is saying they agree with Governor Pence and the signing of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The O'Connor family, who owns Memories Pizza, says they have a right to believe in their religion and protect those ideals.

“If a gay couple came in and wanted us to provide pizzas for their wedding, we would have to say no,” says Crystal O'Connor of Memories Pizza.

She and her family are standing firm in their beliefs.

The O'Connor's have owned Memories Pizza in Walkerton for 9 years.

It's a small-town business, with small-town ideals.

“We are a Christian establishment,” says O'Connor.

The O'Connor family prides themselves in owning a business that reflects their religious beliefs.

“We're not discriminating against anyone, that's just our belief and anyone has the right to believe in anything,” says O'Connor.

So, when Governor Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, the family was not disappointed.

“We definitely agree with the bill,” says O'Connor.

Refusing to serve a gay couple isn't discrimination, see.

Ok. So I had heard of Kentuckiana, but there's a Michiana too?

Welcome to Indiana: Sharing the Border With a Few Other States and Practicing Religious Freedom Since 2015

Terry and Maureen McFadden, Michiana's only brother and sister news team

the o'connor's

anyone has the right to believe in anything,” says O'Connor.

...

“That lifestyle is something they choose. I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual. Why should I be beat over the head to go along with something they choose?” says Kevin O'Connor.

"Choose." Also, selling someone (everyone) a fucking pizza is not being beat over the head.

Man must be an awesome God you serve if you have to do things like refuse processed cheese to gay couples to avoid pissing him off.

ok in seriousness though I mean I dunno that the Fundies I went to church with would even be this nutso. Religious folks kinda acting like the anti-vaxx folks where it's like "Hmm, well I guess it could be ok to y'know, serve gay people, but there's this really small chance that the moment the cash changes hands that God will strike his thunderous wrath, so y'know, better err on the side of caution".

MOst of my Christian friends are pro-gay marriage so I'm really confused at these pockets of people.

Yes last year there was a megachurch in GA where the head pastor came out and there was massive support from the community. This isn't mainstream Christianity this is Religious Extremism. Which is something I thought we were supposed to fear? Isn't that part of why we are always blowing up the middle east?

Every Indiana establishment now serves weddings in order to justify their hate. "Why should my Christian bait and tackle shop have to supply the bait and tackle for a gay wedding?"

lol

i would go to that wedding

Honestly at " I choose to be heterosexual" reporter should have just made "O RLY?" face and walked away.

Sadly he did not choose to be a jerk that was something he was born with.

I'm imagining there being this big red alarm in Heaven that goes off any time a gay couple touches a wedding cake and God waking up pissed.

what it really boils down to are many of these extremely Conservative Christians are just upset at their narrowing sphere of influence in the country when in reality some of the "rights" they feel they've lost should never have been granted to them in the first place.

tho they don't understand the concept of "strict scrutiny" either so

LOL

http://s3-media3.fl.yelpassets.com/bphoto/EKqgNa14Wa4PhpV-DEq8ng/l.jpg

So we got this news

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/01/indiana-rfra-deal-sets-limited-protections-for-lgbt/70766920/

ILX has eaten two of my attempts to post here but I'll give it another shot. Briefly, I boomeranged pretty quickly from knee-jerk 'burn the whole state to the ground' disgust towards this legislation to astonishment and pride over the booming opposition. I grew up in the midst of a lot of unfortunate bigotry and general small-mindedness (and god knows it's still pervasive, particularly in the southern part of the state) but I've also seen Indiana make a lot of progress over the years. I was just marveling the other day about the number of people who went to my small, rural high school and who have subsequently come out and are still living in the same general area. I cannot imagine that situation being in any way tolerable twenty years ago. I have no desire to ever move back, but I appreciate feeling like I don't have to hate and distance myself from Indiana.

I hear ya, O.L.

I don't want to pat my fellow Arkansans too hard on the back today. I look back on some of my past "Well, the state might be blood red, but there's like at least a dozen of us who meet for coffee every Tuesday," posts with twinges of regret. We took more than just a few steps backward yesterday, but –

I am inspired by the Arkansas folk who put up this installation on the steps of our Capitol:

http://i.imgur.com/DB89jrG.jpg

Or the Arkansans who lined the halls and yelled "Shame on you!" at the legislators who walked through them:

http://i.imgur.com/4hoIaZW.jpg

Or even the woman on the left who was a national name in the political arena long before the guy up on the wall was:

http://i.imgur.com/dVUyR8f.jpg

(Dr. Jocelyn Elders, former U.S. Surgeon General, under the portrait of Skinny Mike Huckabee)

The crazy people got their way, but quite honestly, I don't think they'd be interested in pulling the same stunt again.

I guess Republicans have been so vocal about Sharia Law invading the US because they wanted to do it here first.

Though wait

http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2015/04/01/govt-and-business-leaders-object-to-ark-religion-bill/70757942/

Repeal these altogether. I do not want to have to join The Church of Walmart when I am 70 and need a job.

The public outcries in both states to these legislations has been a welcome surprise. Not that I didn't know that there would be pockets of people in both states that would feel that way but more than I expected.

maybe we're finally nearing the time when martyr-complexing doesn't carry the weight it used to

Don't understand how you can call yourself a Christian and be for denying people food. That's like the main thing Jesus did!

Not deny people food, but giving it out.

Bible has lots in it about not being lazy, maybe all employees should work 20 hour days.

Is anyone organizing Indiana businesses not run by bigots? It would be nice to isolate the bigots - to see one hateful pizzeria surrounded by shops and restaurants with uniform "everyone welcome" signs.

Folks actually in favor of these bills seem to be a crazy confluence of "gay marriage = endtimes" zealots, and anti-government types of the opinion that any business owner should be able to refuse service for any reason because it's THEIR business.

I agree the huge outpouring of criticism has been surprising, and when it's not just "Hollywood types" but CEOs, it's really heartening to me. Quite honestly I feel that people like that pizza family upthread are a very small minority. There are plenty of Indiana businesses not on board with this imo.

Indiana "turning blue" will not keep the American population from doing so this century

So Tweedy cancelled a show in Indianapolis, punishing his fans for living in a city which does have anti-sexual discrimination laws, because it's in a state which doesn't.

The Arkansas bill explicitly raises religious concerns(in the business sense) over everything else, incl. civil rights.

Don Allred ‏@0wlred

The Supreme Court's expected ruling on gay marriage won't be enough. We need an updated Civil Rights Act ( ditto Voting Rights Act btw).
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6:30 PM -

um cancelling the show is good, not bad, it's the message that counts right now

good publicity

So Tweedy cancelled a show in Indianapolis, punishing his fans

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http://www.songkick.com/artists/490682-jeff-tweedy

Oh yeah, and Kansas hasn't gotten enough attention: Gov. Sam Brownback removed anti- gay bias protection from state hiring regulations.

Just go to Louisville it's less than 2 hours away.

Or take Megabus and it's less than $12 round trip.

just go to the slippery noodle instead