One of the best things about having left Florida is that I no longer have to bear the embarrassment of being a resident of that insane state. From hanging chads to the Elian Gonzalez debacle to the stand your ground law and people like George Zimmerman who choose to abuse it, to the draconian voting regulations and the reelection of Governor Rick Scott, as a Floridian it just makes you want to hang your head and not make eye contact with anyone.
But recent news takes the cake. Just when you think that state couldn’t sink any lower, geographically or morally, they pull a caper like this. Now that they have been forced, kicking and screaming, to make gay marriage legal, what has Duval County, the home of my old city, Jacksonville, along with two neighboring counties done? They’ve stopped doing courthouse marriages. For anyone. Why? Because some of their employees are apparently uncomfortable with complying with the new law. Boo hoo.
The question is, does that state try to make itself look ignorant, backward, and bat shit crazy, or is it just that way and it can’t help but broadcast it with every action it takes? And what do they gain from this image? I don’t get it.
When I lived there, news like this meant that I had this chronic, low grade heartburn feeling in my chest that I couldn’t seem to do anything about. It was gnawing away at my very spirit. Now, it just makes me slap my forehead from the opposite side of the country and think, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
[Image credit: poorexcuses.com]
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