QUEER AT THE MAIN STREET BARBER SHOP

THROW BACK THOUGHTS

     Dave Letterman said it the other night. The Indiana on display in the last week is "not the Indiana I remember."

        Letterman continued, "folks were folks.  We breathed the same air. We were all carbon based life forms. We all wore shoes, had the same organs, had hair, went to the barbershop…" Indeed!

       My dad had patronized the Main Street Barbershop in Muncie, since he was school kid and later when he played on the famed Muncie Central Bearcats basketball team. Though back in the mid '30s if they lost or had not played well they might get their "ears nicked a little."

      I looked forward to our Saturday morning visits.There behind the big plate glass window next to the rotating  red, white and blue barber pole was a social mecca of sorts. It was a bright, cheerful gathering place which is probably why dad took my younger brother John and me to the venerable spot every other week. It was a kind of magic place.

      The long mirrored room with ceiling fans smelled great. Hair tonics, shave cream and lotions were exotic aromas. Claude, the owner and one of three or four barbers, always greeted dad like a hero. He'd open his pop machine and invite John and me to pull out our own bottle of Coke. Sometimes he'd toss us a bag of salted peanuts, pulled from a metal clip stand near the cash register.

     As dad and the others in the crowded room chatted about all manner of things, I tuned out and instead got absorbed in the stacks of magazines. This was very special. There was of course Field and Stream, Argosy, Life Magazine, Look and Science Digest. But what I liked most were True Detective, Stag and Confidential.  

     The art of True Detective featured woman in nightgowns, or garter belts, perhaps a revealing a stretch of leg. They appeared to be being rescued and/or there was a guy with a gun in the picture-or some such. It's been a while. Stag and Confidential though were the big score and those images are more fixed.  

    As dad and the guys chatted, I sat there and saw things probably not intended for an 8 or 9 year old. What exotic things they were!  I think I became aware that women had breasts by scanning those pages. That is where I met Jayne Mansfield. And it was there I discovered women wearing high heels in a bathing suit had a certain, something. I didn't know why, but I liked it.

     Understand, those glimpses of Stag and Confidential were furtive. They were also short lived adventures, especially when using the eyes in the back of his head, dad would grumble from the barber chair "hey, what are you looking at there?"

       To be certain I spent more time looking at the fascinating photo journalism of Life and Look or being awed by the futuristic designs of Science Digest. What cars, houses and cities  we had to look forward to.

     I also listened to more of the conversations than I  understood but I got a sense of different opinions about ball teams, insurance plans, politics, politicians and people.

     There was a guy who would come in frequently and he was just different. Jerry's voice was different and he walked differently but he was greeted just like all of the other guys. One Saturday when the door clicked closed behind Jerry, Gil, one of the barbers, said "Old Jerry sure is as queer as a three dollar bill." There were quiet chuckles from a couple of the chairs.  

     Claude looked down the line of chairs at Gil and said something like "But he's sure a good customer. Regular as prunes. Same time every week." 

     "He's been a great piano and organ player since he was kid" my Dad offered, surprising me with his wide knowledge.

     "Oh, he's all right, but you know," something to that affect Gil rejoined.

      On the way home I asked Dad if he had any three dollar bills and then asked what is a queer?

      Dad was always straightforward and he didn't miss a beat. He said some men were born differently and for whatever reason they weren't meant to marry a woman or have children. He said they wouldn't be interested in those men's magazines at the barbershop.  But he also admonished us to never use the word Queer. It's not nice he said. Everyone deserves your respect. He said we'd understand when we got older and he promised to tell us more sometime.  

      When I was older we had that talk, complete with old Army health information he used as a drill instructor-but that is a story for another day.

       Sometime after the "three dollar bill incident" dad introduced me to a legless man on a rolling platform. He was selling pencils on the street, not far from the barbershop. He explained he'd lost his legs in the war and sold pencils to make ends meet. They chatted a bit and I could tell they'd known each other since school. Dad gave him some money and told him he still had plenty of pencils from the previous purchase. On the way home he told me to never tease someone who is different, again reminding me everyone deserves respect.

       That's exactly what my old college friend Dave was saying on his program and it's what many others have been saying to Governor Mike Pence and his Indiana political allies who tried to used a so called religious freedom bill to treat others with less than respect, to treat them differently.

       I hope the "fixes" they are talking about will repair Indiana's image and maybe fix their own hearts.

     See you down the trail.

IS IT WRONG TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST A GAY OR LESBIAN COUPLE?

ANSWER THE QUESTION GOVERNOR

     Those of us with Indiana ties have been busy the last several days following the avalanche.

      Since Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restorations Act (RFRA) we've been watching years of progress unspool.

      From a purely good government point of view, Mike Pence has failed, aided and abetted by politicians who are more interested in personal or political agendas than they are concerned about what is best for the state.

      It's been a media carnival. Companies are to stop to doing business there. Celebrities, politicians, educators, scholars and citizens are embarrassed and decry the event. Charles Barkley has even suggested the NCAA, which is headquartered in Indianapolis, pull the Final Four out of there. In the meantime, the NCAA is in emergency mode and distressed by the Governor's signature. Millions of dollars of convention trade and other business may wash out of Indiana. Three thousand people marched to the State House. 

      The stupidity of the Governor in signing the bill is trumped by the idiocy of his not listening to a chorus of people who warned him about it. Intelligent minds, business leaders, mayors, chambers of commerce, ministers, academics and legal scholars tried to wave the ambitious Mr. Pence away from signing. 
      It is a cynical political bill that seeks to take advantage of a loophole in Indiana code that does not specifically protect gay and lesbians from discrimination. Pence and his supporters won't acknowledge that. 

      There is a strong right wing and evangelical current that runs through Indiana and they have been apoplectic about recent advances in human rights that extend marriage, union and freedoms to LGBT people. Despite all of the "defense" that, "gee, we are only doing what the federal government did under Bill Clinton" their argument is instead the product of that California specimen pictured above.

     I've known Mike Pence since before he was a radio talk show star with political aspirations. Mike ran and lost over a a few years but he continued to learn how to play to a base. He was eventually elected to congress and left radio politics behind. Mike has been a clever media student. Though a little "slick" for my tastes he was smart in mastering "messages," but he blew it on ABC.

      5 or 6 times George Stephanopoulos gave the Governor a chance to answer a straight yes or no, "Can an Indiana business refuse to serve a gay or lesbian?"  Each time Governor Mike weaseled out of it, trying to turn the shame of the situation back onto an hysterical media. Again and again he was asked for a straight answer. He could have moved the issue a long way with an answer, but he was defensive, not candid. That in itself speaks volumes about what is wrong in Indiana.

     One of Pence's supporters, a right wing evangelical political power broker, with a long history of worrying about non heterosexual matters, opined as to how the RFRA will now empower people to refuse to serve gays or lesbians, if they feel their religious beliefs would be violated in doing so. He has influence and sway in the Indiana legislature. The legislation is in lock step with an obstinate mindset.

    There has been plenty of legal scholarship and debate on this measure. Many who supported the legislation Bill Clinton signed now say they regret it or that it wasn't necessary. But in Indiana, and probably in Arkansas, Mississippi, Arizona and other places of such "enlightenment" and intellectual vigor, the RFRA is a backdoor defensive block to the extension of human rights to people right wing evangelicals think are "sinful."  

     The Indiana bill creates confusion, lacks focus and will set up conflicts. That may be part of the intended flack. Scholars say it affects the delicate balance between religious liberty and other rights that was already in place after years of federal and state legislation, history, practice and precedence. Religious liberty is not strengthened by this ploy and is probably weakened by placing stresses on the precious balance that has been achieved and respected. Scholars argue that has been the history of RFRA laws.

     Mike Pence must not be as smart as I thought he was, or he is  blinded by political ambition and panders to the extreme religious right. Either way he is now the captain of the ship that may well sink decades of improvement that was inspired by and then presided over by people like Richard Lugar, William Hudnut, Steve Goldsmith, Bart Peterson, Bob Orr, Otis Bowen, Frank Obannon, Mitch Daniels and countless other Republicans and Democratrs who assisted these mayors and governors who worked to create a climate of progress in Indiana. Those bi-partisan and practical combined objectives for Indiana did not aspire to be on the Pence list of cronies-Mississippi, Arizona, Alabama, etc.

    The current Indianapolis Mayor and those of large Indiana cities were among the chorus who warned Governor Mike to toss the bill into the trash.  Instead it is Indiana that is being trashed.

     I've heard from many Indiana friends, including Republicans who are angry, embarrassed and fearful of what happens to a state they have served and for which they have aspirations. The bill was ill conceived and the state was ill served by the Governor's signature. Maybe Pence's presidential ambitions and the state's retrograde image can be halted by an "Indiana Spring."  
     An intellectual, moral, economic and political twilight could halt what has been three of decades of genuine advancement and a heady private-public participation. It is time for the light of decency and intelligence.
     

    See you down the trail.