politics

Don't take anything for granted. Texas has been on the verge of going blue for years but people don't show up for midterms and the GOP has been doing their best to make the state unlivable unless you just enjoy suffering or watching others suffer. They'll also make any excuse to make voting harder unless you're in a rural county.

Bigotry is the only thing they seem to want tolerance of.

They won't respect the "sanctity of marriage" by treating an immigrant spouse as a citizen... or respect marriage at all when they cheat on their wives while they're pregnant. They want to bring back state-sanctioned bigotry, that's it.

What Republicans have come to realize (and Democrats refuse to accept) is that you can just DO THINGS at the executive level. And if the bureaucrats follow along, then you've functionally established new policy.

The Iowa legislature can pass a rule saying "No more issuing marriage contracts to gay couples" and the state courts can say "Okay, we'll stop doing that and we'll also stop recognizing existing contracts", and all the low level county officials can just ignore the legal status of gay married families and then private businesses can follow suit. And then that's it. No SCOTUS decision is going to pay out on insurance benefits claims to a legally de-certified no-longer-spouse.

On the flip side, the Iowa legislature can author this act and the people of Iowa can rise up in protest and say "Fuck you, we won't do what you tell us." Private businesses can continue to honor marriage contracts. Low level bureaucrats can continue to treat gay couples as married. Mid-level bureaucrats can defend and promote them. High level bureaucrats who continue to force these abhorrent laws on people can be removed from office.

The problem is that... the fish rots from the head. More likely than not, we're seeing this push because Iowa's basket of deplorable plutocrats want to expand the number of minorities they can piss and shit all over. Just like how DOGE gutted the "Woke" federal bureaucracy, I suspect we're going to see Iowa state leadership tearing the spine out of any state or local government agency that refuses to accept gay rights are expired.

Do you have the courage to stand up to your boss? Do you have the support of your friends and coworkers to call a strike in a business that singles out the LGBTQ folks who work there? Will you march on your city council and demand they take your side or get out of the way? Will you march on your state house? Will you stare down a bunch of bigots in badges when you do it?

This is a big ask and its not easy to find enough folks willing to stand up for what is right.

Yes but if they weren't spending all their time oppressing minority groups they'd have to solve actual problems and that's hard.

It’s all very “We’re miserable, so you have to be too.”

I'd rather not create thought crimes, or give the government a vague label to slap on any group of people they want to criminalize.

Instead of giving the state another avenue for oppression, what if we label religion as the disease that it is and work with mental health professionals to develop a treatment for it?

Make it even simpler abolish organized religion. You're free to do whatever you want in the privacy of your home, but get rid of all the temples, churches, mosques, and synagogues. No tax exemptions for religious organizations either (and that one change would kill most Christian churches practically over night).

Ninny sounds like such a cool word! I’m going to start using it.

"The Bible says homosexuality is abhorrent."

"How many types of fabric are in that shirt?"

"... that passage is ambiguous!"

Aziraphale and Crowley looking at Jesus during the crucifixion.

Crowley: What was it he said that got everyone so upset?

Aziraphale: “Be kind to each other.”

Crowley: Oh, yeah. That'll do it.