Bigotry Pays

[Content Note: Homophobia; Christian Supremacy.]

Last week, an Indiana pizza place who announced they would refuse to cater a same-sex wedding if asked, became the centerpiece of another firestorm surrounding Indiana's passage of a garbage "religious freedom" bill. Many progressives responded with classist sneering, and many conservatives responded by donating to a fundraiser for the owners of the pizzeria, raising more than $800,000.

A couple of points:

1. It's utterly contemptible that there are always people who are happy to make sure that bigotry pays.

2. One of the reasons I argued vehemently against a broad boycott of the entire state is because I knew it would not hurt our conservative leadership. Over and over, I said that plenty of conservative money will flow in from out of state as reward for this shit, because that's what always happens. And the fundraising for this pizzeria is just a small example of that.

3. One of the alternative suggestions to a boycott which was made repeatedly by progressive Hoosiers was targeted funding of businesses who promised to serve everyone and/or organizations in Indiana which are working on behalf of equality. Did any of those businesses or organizations raise $800,000, or anything like it, from progressives who were outraged? Nope.

Once again, conservatives mobilized with their wallets, and progressives supported a boycott that has seen Hoosier businesses who will employ and serve everyone have orders canceled just because they are headquartered in Indiana.

So who's really "winning" here?

In good news, the Indiana Assembly added some language that ostensibly means the RFRA cannot be used to discriminate against queer Hoosiers (and others), but the RFRA still needs to be repealed in full—because there remain exemptions from the amendment for religious organizations, who are still free to discriminate.

And, despite prohibitions on discrimination on the basis of sex, for example, refusing to provide service to abortion-seeking or contraception-seeking women is not generally considered sex discrimination, because the objection is considered to be to "abortion/contraception," not to "women having control over our own reproduction."

There's no comprehensive victory until RFRA is thrown in the garbage where it belongs. But I understand why it seems like a victory to people looking in from the outside, who imagine that these (limited) protections solve the problem, and who believe there was no other way to achieve this important but partial measure besides screaming boycott.

We've still got a lot of work to do, and we still need help to do it.