No, I'm not talking about Hillary and Bill again. I'm talking about my home state -- the home of horses, whiskey and women, at least as they would have it -- Kentucky. Although last November Kentuckians performed admirably in voting out a particularly idiotic and homophobic governor, the state legislature still has its fair share of backwoods moralizers. The state senate has just passed a bill banning public universities and state agencies from providing benefits to gay and lesbian partners. If passed, it would effectively strip benefits already offered by the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky.
How idiotic are some of the bill's sponsors? Let's take Sen. Vernie McGaha (R), who says, "I do not recognize domestic partnerships as being a correct thing....My Bible teaches against it." As to the argument from university administrators that this legislation would make it more difficult to recruit talented teachers and others, McGaha thinks the answer is simple:
"Keep recruiting," he said. "There's plenty out there."
I'm sure that's just what Jesus would do.
As Towleroad notes, Courier-Journal reporter Stephanie Steitzer*identifies Democratic opponent of the bill Sen. Ernesto Scorsone as "a homosexual," a rather surprisingly archaic and offensive usage from a newspaper that should know better.
Anyway, every time I visit home I get a bit wistful about all the things I miss about my native home. Then the people who actually run the place open their mouths and I thank god all over again that I moved the hell away. I just wish all the people who've chosen to stay could have an easier run of it.
*Based on a very nice e-mail from the reporter in question, I've struck my original reference. Sometimes what a reporter turns in isn't what makes it into print -- which still makes it a surprising moment for a respected paper such as the Courier-Journal to use "homosexual" as a noun as opposed to an adjective.
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