Texas and Prejudice

I don't understand what it is about Texas.

We have some of the nicest, kindest people I've ever run across here.

As long as you're white, straight, and Christian.

And not physically/mentally challenged, overweight, or a smoker.

I live near the liberal center. You'd think this is the welcoming Heart of Texas where distinctions like skin color just don't matter.

Oh, Hell no!

Let's ignore all the racial prejudice that's going on for the moment, as much as that makes my heart hurt.

That's all alive and well. So keep it in mind. It's just a back-burner

I wound up violating one of my cardinal rules and getting into a vicious political argument with a co-worker the other day.

His basic stance comes from his echo chamber that all Republicans must be vindictive Ayn Rand Objectivists who don't give a shit about what happens to anyone else.

(Gently potty-training a toddler, or not, gives me a different perspective on that "give a shit" idiom than I would have had the last time I thought about Ayn Rand. Since we're really talking about the only sort of control over what they offer the world...and I'll stop there with the analogy).

The basic topic of discussion was the fact that, overall, Congress has an incredibly low disapproval rating.

But individual Congress-critters have an incredible re-election rate.

This amounts to a basic fact of life in national American politics: I think that Congress sucks. But my Congress-critter fights hard enough for what I want so that I'll vote for his re-election next time.

If nothing else, that Congress-critter knows how the game is played.

Every example that comes to mind is going to upset someone. And this is all totally beside the point.

Th Texas legislature is pushing x (I think there are 9) bills to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation.

These aren't the slam-dunk laws that have already been deemed Unconstitutional, like the idiotic ones against "sodomy."

These are basic laws about things that challenge your fundamental identity.

These are things like "which bathroom do I go into?"

That's tough enough for me at some restaurants. Especially after a couple of beers. When you have to pick between a picture of a baseball mitt and a bat, that's tough enough when you were brought up to make the connection. And pick up on the innuendo.

 If that just doesn't make any sense to you, on any level, Texas is trying to outlaw your bathroom rights. If you happened to be born with a mitt, but have a deep-seated belief that you should have had a bat, the Texas legislature is trying to decree...something.

That you're wrong.

I don't have any idea what sort of penalties are involved, mostly because it's late and I'm tired.

If you happened to be born with a mitt, and are comfortable with your mitt, congratulations on being part of the majority!

Please, come join me in standing up for the rights of those people who weren't as lucky as we were.