This past week, many of us were amazed watching the tangled web of the anti-LGBT legislation that became law in Indiana, which has become a national poster child for LGBT discrimination. The outcry over Indiana’s law likely served as the impetus for the governor of Arkansas to reject similar legislation, although he callled for a clarification. While it looks (as I write this column on Wednesday) that there is some form of compromise or fix in the Indiana legislation in the offing, please note, as we did last week, that this is only one of 28 states with antigay legislation in the making.
Victory or not in Indiana, we are now in the midst of a backlash, and a backlash is not over in one battle. Recall that, as Human Rights Campaign has pointed out, there are four types of antigay legislation among those more-than two-dozen states. The Indiana model was the “freedom of religion” issue, but there are three other types waiting in the wings.
But of all the states, one must be singled out: Texas. It now has the distinction of being, at least legislative-wise, the most LGBT-unfriendly state in the nation. It is the only state with all four forms of anti-LGBT legislation and, get this, Texas lawmakers have now introduced more than 20 pieces of legislation attacking LGBT Texans and their families. Way to go, Texas.
Most of this legislation was in reaction to the various court rulings on marriage equality. A backlash begins when one faction is gaining and another is losing and afraid of what that loss means. It’s an overreaction. Thus, we are in the first stage of backlash since equality is truly gaining.
You can never guess the route a backlash will go. But what we can do is keep alert and make some educated guesses. The first is obvious. June will be the next pressure point for both sides, when the Supreme Court issues its ruling on marriage equality. Be assured that the justices are watching Indiana and thinking about the reaction to their ruling.
What effect Indiana will have on the ruling is unclear — as is what the backlash will be.