Here’s the Thing About People Like Kim Davis

The video still that made Kim Davis famous.

People like Kim Davis aren’t going away. Not yet, anyway.

But, there are things we can and should be doing to prevent them from hurting the LGBT community.

Sure, people like Kim Davis seem utterly and completely ridiculous, and that’s why they’re getting the attention they are: They hold a bygone worldview that is slipping away, a little at a time, although not fast enough for many of us.

However, it is really important to keep in mind that Davis isn’t alone: A few weeks ago, I compared this type of longing for days gone by to Gone With the Wind. All it takes is a quick review of the Republican Presidential candidates and you can see why a good number of folks took to drinking games during the first televised debate.

LGBT folks and their allies have made a good deal of progress, and, for many of us who live in a relatively liberal, urban environment, the notion that there are people like Kim Davis out there can boggle the mind. But, despite the amazing changes we’ve seen in culture, we only have to look in our own Philly backyard to find homophobic mentality at its worst, from the beating of two gay men to the Archbishop of Philadelphia claiming he was “very grateful” that an openly gay teacher was fired at a Catholic school to a 53-year-old trans woman being beat just short of her life.

In short, we’re not out of the woods quite yet. This is why it is extremely important that recent measures in the Pennsylvania legislature, including the reintroduction of a LGBT anti-discrimination bill and a bill that would prevent claims of trans and gay panic defense, are passed by our lawmakers. Also, we ought to be full-on supporting Philly’s office of LGBT Affairs (and if you haven’t already done so, go follow them on Twitter).

Every little protection helps in a world full of people like Kim Davis, who truly and honestly believe that they are working “under God’s authority.”