It’s funny: After L Word Mississippi aired, it was met with a host of comments, opinions, criticisms. The most notable of criticism being that our stories weren’t real; that they must have been exaggerated. I recall one person saying she was from Mississippi, and she never knew anywhere to be “like that.” One said, “That can’t be true. They must have paid them off.”

Funny how now, two years later, our country sits up and listens. We’ve been screaming and flailing our arms saying, “Hey, guys look what’s going on here…” And now that it may be too late, the world is finally taking notice.

I wonder what those critics would have to say today. And I can’t help but ponder why it took such a drastic, horrendous act from our state legislator for people to finally see behind the curtain. If you want my truth, I am hurt, I am angry, I am saddened and I am afraid. I am afraid that Kasen will go to school and the teachers will treat him poorly because he has two mommies. I am saddened that our governor does not see us as people but as problems. I am angry that I must pull away from my partner in a restaurant for fear of being kicked out, or worse, and I am hurt that when the governor looks at me, he only sees an African American lesbian, a threat to what this country was founded upon, when I am so much more.

A photo posted by Jana (@jpaige31) on Dec 7, 2014 at 5:44pm PST

I am the total of a mother and father who fought and lived through segregation and civil rights, of a grandmother who could not write her own name but cleaned the homes of wealthy white men and women so that her children and grandchildren would have an opportunity at a life of which she could only dream. I am the product of parents who believed that right here in Mississippi a little black girl, who happened to be gay could be the exception and not the rule if her parents worked hard enough and dreamed big enough for their daughter.

This bill is a slap in the face to my grandmother. This bill is a slap in the face to my parents, and it’s a slap in the face to me. It’s a slap to the countless lives that were lost in the name of civil rights. I am more than what you surmise when you look at me, Mr. Governor, and I deserve better from you.

The truth of the matter is that this bill is in fact discrimination of the highest order. It will open doors for more intolerance, hate crimes, and bigotry in the name of religion. It will cause far more problems than it will solve in the misrepresentation of Jesus, and if not reprieved, I am fearful that blood will be shed as a result of HB 1523, in the name of the bible. You cannot spew bigotry and Bible from the same mouth. Apples and oranges cannot grow from the same tree, love and hatred cannot come from the same heart. And this bill and God’s desire for his people do not occupy the same space.

I’m just a little girl from Amory, MS. I grew up drinking sweet tea and going to church every Sunday (yes… every…. single… Sunday!) I grew up saying “Yes ma’am,” and “Please and thank you.” I grew up believing if I worked hard enough, I could be a teacher or doctor or even the governor. I grew up believing that you treat every single person the same, no matter how different they seemed. I grew up believing Jesus loves all of us; white people, black people, gay people, homeless people, short people, left-handed people, and that His house (the church), was the one place every single one of those people could go and just be people. I grew up believing the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Well, HB 1523 is an injustice. And if you think because you are thousands of miles away, or because you’re not directly impacted or because you don’t know a gay person or a trans person, or because “it’s not your business,” you’re not called to action, then you are sadly mistaken. This injustice in Mississippi is a threat to justice in California, North Dakota & Florida. It’s a threat to justice in New York, and in Texas, Nevada, and Michigan. This injustice in Mississippi is a threat to justice in your back yard.

As a small child in church, we sang “Yes, Jesus loves me / For the Bible tells me so.” Well, I am no longer the little girl who believes that all people were created equal. I no longer believe that if I work hard enough, I can be anything. I no longer believe that Jesus’ house is a safe haven for all, and I no longer believe that all people, no matter how different they may seem, are treated the same. Those things are not true, because, on April 5th, MISSISSIPPI told me so.

Over 200 years ago these words were ratified in the preamble of the constitution and in 2016, it was modified.

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”

“Unless you’re different.” (Governor Phil Bryant, Mississippi 2016)