1. I know what I'm about to say will sound odd (some might even say "queer"), but Indiana's sweeping law enshrining "religious liberty" is actually a blessing.

Why?

SB101 is the equivalent of the following statement, espoused by South Park's Cartman, an equally intransigent and manipulative cry baby: "Screw you guys! I'm going home."

Take solace in the fact that those who draft such bills (barely worthy of the term) or those who support them (whose grandchildren will not be able to deny their relation because of photo tagging) are grasping at straws, to mix a metaphor, which those of other "sincerely held religious beliefs" would deny them the chance to suck.

Sorry. Even that made me feel dirty. But I have digressed.

None too surprisingly, public opinion has turned against Governor Pence (@GovPenceIN), especially after this past Sunday when he was unable to answer George Stephanapolous' simple yes-or-no questions as to whether this law will allow discrimination against LGBT people.

Of course, as is increasingly the tactic used by the paradoxically most "oppressed" yet most politically connected and pandered to supramajority, the "liberal" media is to blame for the sweepingly and imprecisely stated law that still lacks the clarification Governor Pence said he would make on Saturday.

But our recently Campfield-free legislature is barely better. This coming Wednesday—April Fool’s Day, no less, all irony lost on the bill’s sponsor, Rep. DeBerry (D)—our House of Representatives will be considering HB566 (oh, if only it came a 100 proposals later, I'm sure there'd be a religious exception to enumeration), which is scheduled as agenda item #23.

Per Capital.tn.gov:

A public institution of higher education operating under chapter 8 or 9 of this title shall not discriminate against, discipline, expel, remediate, or take any other adverse action against a student in a counseling, social work, or psychology program because the student refuses to counsel or serve a client as to goals, outcomes, or behaviors that conflict with a sincerely held religious belief of the student. The objecting student’s supervising instructor or professor, in consultation with any director or agency in which an internship or practicum may be occurring, shall coordinate a referral of the client to a counselor who will provide the counseling or services.

In other words, would-be counselors can be shielded from serving those they deem unfit for recognition of a shared humanity. (Sadly, I didn’t have the time to search for a meta-analysis of the correlation between students who feel the need to seek such curricular exemptions and latent homosexual desires.)

Those who would like to voice their dissent should show up to Legislative Plaza Room 31 at 12 noon Wednesday April 1 wearing purple.

File photo via KnoxNews