I grew up in an isolated, semi-rural smaller town on the outskirts
of Tampa. Access to the Big City, but not a lot of influence in my
daily life. We lived in a lower middle-class subdivision filled with
fairly average Floridians of varying degrees of 'Country.' My mother's
family were literally farmers and cowboys. Both parents had been poor.
So when I moved to a small, rural, Southwest Georgia town...I really
thought I was prepared for what to expect.
I had never been more wrong in my life.
And that ever-alarming wake-up call was being received before the
events of a black man being elected President for the first time...
Before he was re-elected.
Before it looked like a woman might win the highest office in the land.
Before a hurricane decimated the town.
Before the housing market imploded.
Before social media became the dark corrupting force it is today.
Before meth addiction crippled the area.
Before our economy and job market died..
Before right-wing fascism exploded onto the scene unapologetically.
Before "Black Lives Matter" and "Defund the Police" were a thing.
Before people started questioning the legitimacy of elections, even as
they attempted to steal them for themselves.
Before a global pandemic hit even the sleepiest corners of America.
Before violent insurrection was attempted at our country's seat of power.
Before we had a fully-imbedded media circus that could convince half
the country no such event had occurred.
Each and every one of those developments increased the challenge
of living in an area that is hospitable only in the brochures and when they
desire your dollars. But now a once-tolerable challenging area has become
another beast all together. Open hostility, targeting folks for abuse, allowing
injustices: These are standard descriptors for a small town where the ruling
majority have political ideations that don't bode well for the rest of its residents.
As a gay man, I have faced plenty of obstacles and outright hatred
living in the South all my life. The Bible Belt's emphasis is on "Use the
Good Book to justify your prejudices and small-mindedness," not on
"Follow the word and life of Jesus as a guide for how to live YOUR life."
I never thought that my sexual orientation would still be an issue 5 decades
later, nor did I imagine that my political or religious affiliations would be
used as justification for severe mistreatment, targeted abuse, or willful
withholding of services.
But you live...and you learn.
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