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salin

(48,955 posts)
Tue Jul 1, 2014, 11:07 PM Jul 2014

A bit of light and hopeful (per shift in public opinion) in Indy Star.

The SCOTUS rulings of the past few days have depressed me greatly.

However, another court ruling - in my red state of Indiana - per gay marraiges has allowed for a counter narrative (per public opinion) to flow.

For years, the Indianapolis Star has been a center right paper with a far right (todays Teaparty types) responders on the message boards. These boards were vile in language and hostility. One response was to disallow anonymity of postings (to a point) by requiring posting through another accepted social media outlet (such as facebook) that lifts some anonymity. However, that shift did not change the dynamics on the board much - at least initially.

So yesterday (or early this am) there was a weird ruling per a stay on the ruling striking down the gay marriage ban (struck down last week - and leading to many marriages in the interim.) The ruling, in essence - put the status of all the marriages that have occurred in the past couple of days in limbo - but required the state to recognize the marriage of two of the plaintiffs (one of whom has a terminal illness.)

Later today an Indy Star opinion piece - lauding the stay (not the recognition of the one marraige - but in upholding the ban) was posted. The author is a far right Christian writer (focus on the family type.) You can imagine the tone. Yuck.

What is cool - is the comments section. The big majority express the "Yuck" I felt in reading the piece. In red Indiana. Even in recent years this would not have been the public response.

http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2014/06/25/court-ruling-marriage-puts-religious-liberty-jeopardy/11377631/

Want to read/see a real turn in the tide of public opinion - far beyond from just shifting to changing opinion - but to feeling it so strongly to express/reject bigotry so strongly? I found it very hopeful. Big change from just a few years ago.

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