In Brief: Louisiana Doesn't Want You If You're Gay:
One of the charming things about Louisiana is how stubbornly the state clings to its ass backwardsness, like a high school loser clings to the first girl that blows him, no matter how pathetic and sad it eventually makes him look. It's as if stupidity and prejudice are points of pride with Louisiana, as if it's a way of getting tourist dollars: "Come to Louisiana, where we legislate science out of the classroom." Hell, at least that way, when people go down to visit, it can be quaint and charming, like visiting Amish country, not believing that Americans can actually choose to live like that in this day and age.

So, while Louisiana hasn't yet given up on modern technology (although, really, and, c'mon, how else do the evil thoughts get there?), Governor Bobby "the Exorcist" Jindal, he the great brown hope of Republicans, is letting expire an executive order by the previous governor, Kathleen Blanco, that added "sexual orientation" to the list of reasons the state could not discriminate for hiring or contracts. Blanco did this because the Legislature refused to pass any amendments to state policy adding the protection for gays and lesbians. It made them feel icky and Jeeeezus would get pissy about it, one supposes.

Jindal's thinking? "The reason for allowing the order to lapse is that I don’t think it is necessary to create additional special categories or special right," or, in other words, because he hates fags and dykes. As Gene Mills, head of the Louisiana Family Forum (motto: "Making sure our Christ-suckling young 'uns stay idiots to perpetuate our horribly narrow world view") put it, "Gov. Jindal comes from a different mindset, understanding the damage that this potentially poses to children and to the economy."

Yep, they believe that rampant homos have done nothing but molest and rape the children of Louisiana. And they'd be right, if you replaced "rampant homos" with "Catholic priests." As far as the economy goes, well, if you define "economy" as the amount of money faith-based organizations can get, then, sure, there's an impact. Under Blanco's order (even though she insisted this wasn't true), it meant that if you are from a relief organization from, say, the Southern Baptists, you couldn't discriminate based on sexual orientation when hiring. And if your federal money can't be used to prevent gays and lesbians from handing out food to the poor, then what good is it?

So Blanco's order, which reinstated an order from Democrat Edwin Edwards that was rescinded under Republican Mike Foster, will be gone. If you're gay, working for the state, and living in New Orleans, the state government just said that the recovery of the city is less important than whether or not you fuck someone of the same sex. And the order also banned "harassment," and now with that off the table, your co-workers can call you "fag" freely.

Ah, Louisiana. One step up and two steps back, the glacier of harmful, outdated ideology.