Really, Britain wasn’t warning the LGBT community before these nutbar bills passed?
Sorry guys. The south was one of our first big adventures in winning the war and losing the peace; and our nation-building efforts just never really worked out there.
Rednecks will date and marry their own family, but no LGBT in their backyard?
PS. I saw some place that the largest demographic for downloaded Gay porn is in the South.
In my experience, it generally tends to be those most closeted who complain the loudest about homosexuality…
Sorry for skewing the numbers, but that might have been all me.
Damn! Good for you Sir or Madam!
Why would a British person travel to either state? I guess business, perhaps.
We employees who travel on NY state funding received a letter from the state recently that non-essential travel to North Carolina and Mississippi would not be reimbursable, and should be discouraged in response to these same bills.
There are LOTS of gays in the south. They just don’t like to talk about it.
Here is a great interview with a gay pastor in Mississippi who gives sort of the run down of the situation. Unfortunately the thing the show is on, contact theory, while I feel still has merit, the very promising study they feature turned out to have horrible crap data thanks to one of the main researchers really screwing things up. So take that part with a grain of salt.
I had to travel on business to rural Kentucky at one point. Very nice people as people but inadvisable to express even the most mildly progressive ideas. Or talk about my (Anglo-Indian-Jewish) family.
In North Carolina there’s Asheville, a wonderful place and, incidentally, home to a couple of plaintiffs in the marriage case that went to the Supreme Court. And the Outer Banks is an amazing place, especially for those with an interest in lighthouses.
And while I can’t think of anything off the top of my head I’m sure there are points of interest in Mississippi.
Having grown up in the south I have a love-hate relationship with the place. I love the scenery but hate the stupidity and outright meanness of many of the people. The phrase “southern hospitality” means something to some of us; it means we think we have a nice place and everyone should be welcome in it.
Seconding that; Asheville is wonderful.
Oops, did I just say that out loud? Pretend I didn’t say anything everybody, just, go about your business, nothing to see there …
The Research Triangle Park, is also fairly progressive, with a large college based population. I do love the food in the area when I visit what’s left of my family there, but I feel like I’m on guard the whole time I’m visiting there. (I finally started viewing it like visiting another country, only without the need for a passport or an exchange of currency.)
My British relatives and I were invited to NC for a wedding. We were there less than a day before being introduced to the ex-wizard/dragon/whateverthefuck of a local KKK chapter.
Friendly enough guy. Hopefully he will die alone.
I was just typing a response that said both Asheville and the Research Triangle make the state look better than it really should, which just makes you realize how bad the rest of the state must be.
0_o was he introduced as such? Or was it made known later?
The latest TAL goes back and revisits that data with new scientists. Actually turns out to be surprisingly hopeful. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/584/for-your-reconsideration
Nope, you picked it, he wasn’t. The brother of the bride told me a bit about him, but there was one little detail he said he was going to tell me afterwards. Of course, the guy was more than happy enough to tell us all about it himself.
Context: As part of our introduction to the country we were being invited to shoot various firearms, and basically since nobody had enough private property for it outside Charlotte city limits, Mr KKK was kind enough to lend us his.
I remember as we were leaving somebody said “well, I’m just glad Jeff didn’t come.” I asked who Jeff was but you can guess the important detail. Fuck that, man. I generally take people as they come to me but I draw the line somewhere short of having anything to do with a guy like that. Imagine having friends who are friends with someone who would proudly shoot you dead if you went near their property.
I was not there in NC for long but that was one of a few incidents that gave me the impression of a general deafness to the racial disharmony that exists in the region.
It occurs to me that Nashville’s current status as an “it city”–one with its own hit TV show even–may be one of the few things preventing Tennessee from following its neighbors, although there has been some recent legislative nastiness targeting transgender people.
The city’s diversification has its advantages, much as I hate the increase in traffic.
