The question is: What's the best way to do that?

Move the state capital 100 miles or so north.

That's only half a joke. ;-)

Seriously--the "region" is so much more liberal than most of the rest of the state, but none of us pay attention to what goes on in-state, because the rest of the state acts like we don't exist, unless it's Mitch Daniels trying to privatize our toll road.

It's tough to even get news about LGBT legislation down in the statehouse up here. The papers don't cover it; the news is all Chicagoland, because we have the Chicago affiliates.

It's actually a serious problem IMO, because the most liberal part of the state outside Indy/Bloomington, from where the LGBT community could draw probably the most straight allies, is completely cut off, a totally untapped and disconnected resource.

Take heart, Bil. You may feel like you're beating your head against a brick wall... but it's an increasingly old, outdated and crumbly one. And I'm taking some good thwacks at it right alongside you, or trying at least. A better day is coming and nobody can stop it. The dwindling bigots are aware of that; I believe that's why they're putting up such a hard push right now. I'm thinking (hoping) that it's a last stand.

It's funny, or maybe not, but, I lived in NWI all my life until a year ago when I moved to Indianapolis, and Melissa's right. I had lived 26 years completely shielded from what the state of Indiana was really like. And,.... well, I'm disappointed to say the least. I was warned by my fellow northerners that central Indiana was "behind", but I didn't believe it until I saw it for myself.

I wish I had the answers Bill, it bugs me too- to see all the advancements take place all around us, while we sit in this stagnant state.

More and more I've come to the conclusion that visibility is going to be crucial in moving forward. I refuse to give up.

The Indiana and Gay Pride flags hang together on our front porch and the flags seem happy together, most days the Indiana flag is wrapping itself around the Gay Pride flag, trying to cop a feel, and I think to myself...now, now, Indiana, calm down, we'll get there eventually.

It's true about NW Indiana (it's a different kind of liberal up here than in Bloomington, but still an oasis of sanity compared to the territory between here and there) although I'd point out that the House committee that killed SJR7 this year was chaired by a Regionite, Scott Pelath from Michigan City. It would be nice if the state HRC/IE talked about calling Indiana's fifth (and senior!) Democratic Representative more often too.

Melissa, a hundred miles puts you about 20 miles south of the Kankakee River, assuming we just tow the Statehouse up I-65. Not quite far enough, I fear. 135 or 140 miles ought to do the trick!

The same problem that Melissa and Kelly complain about --- namely, an entire corner of Indiana thinks it is a suburb of Chicago --- also exists on the southern edge along the Ohio River. I have complained for years that the GLBT folks in south-central Indiana think and act as if they are citizens of Kentucky --- while the extreme southeast corner thinks they are a suburb of Cincinnati --- in both cases, they apparently don't care that much about what goes on in Indianapolis, even if it is a state constitutional amendment declaring us second-class citizens forever!

I admit, I have been half-hearted and on-again-off-again in my efforts to get a GLBT network going in the Kentuckiana / Hoosier Hills region. But I do keep chipping away at it, and someday that boulder will begin to roll ... (and I hope I'm still alive ...)

The northwest corner at least benefits from the "liberalism" of Chicago ... being near Louisville and Cincinnati, one might think that New Orleans and Biloxi are only about 30 miles farther south!

(I still marvel at the historic marker which tells of the "Garrison Slave Pens" that once existed at the spot which is now the southern end of the Clark Memorial Bridge as it leads into downtown Louisville. African-American men and women were bought and sold like cattle! Reading it never fails to give me shivers!)

So ... if there are any politically interested GLBT folks in south-central Indiana that feel as abandoned as I do ... well, first, I don't mean to be a blogwhore, but I do have a blog for south-central Indiana at www.ajlopp.com. And no, it doesn't offer the sparkling contributions you will see here at Bilerico ... but if you visit and leave me a comment, I will at least learn that you exist and would like to see something happen in our neck of the woods.

Y'know, the state capital once was in Corydon, believe it or not! And if you want to see what some of us are doing to bring Corydon into the 21st Century, come to our "World on the Square" festival on August 11. Details are at www.CommunityUnity.org and www.WorldOnTheSquare.org

... But this is a family event, gentlemen, designed for the youngsters, and if you wear your leather chaps, please wear untorn blue jeans underneath them.

"Didn't North Carolina secede from the Union once so they could keep being prejudiced against other people?"

I understand your irritation. Really I do. That bill in North Carolina isn't yet law. And that bill was our FIRST pro-LGBT bill to pass either houses of our state legislature BUT... I take offense to your statement: "Didn't North Carolina secede from the Union once so they could keep being prejudiced against other people?" It also shows a real lack of historical knowledge.

North Carolina has always been one of the most progressive Southern states. We haven't always been on the right side of the issues and we haven't always been right, but I'd say we've always been just a bit better than all the other Southern states.

North Carolina DID NOT secede because we wanted to "keep being prejudiced against other people." In fact, we didn't want to secede AT ALL. Our state legislature was against it. Our governor was against it. WE WERE THE LAST STATE TO SECEDE FROM THE UNION precisely because we didn't want to. We were forced to. What else were we supposed to do when Tennessee and Virginia joined the bandwagon with South Carolina? We just supposed to sit there? Secede from the Union or Stay... hmmm... either way: We lose.

To drive home my point on us being the most progressive: North Carolina was not only the very fist state to offer public education, but also one of the very fist Southern states to do the same thing for African-Americans. We were among the first Southern states to integrate our schools. A huge bulk of the civil rights movement started here and although it got a backlash at first, it didn't take very long for things to calm down, unlike in other Southern states. And we are the ONLY Southern state that hasn't faced a huge threat of an anti-LGBT marriage amendment.

Just thought I'd defend my good Old North State. It isn't perfect... but it isn't nearly as bad as it could be.

One of the challenges of organizing a state like Indiana is what everyone has just pointed out. The Evansville area feeds off of Kentucky - and calls itself "The Tri-State Area." Move further east and those Hoosiers get news and views from Louisville. Further east and it's Cincinnati like Allen says... Lots of the eastern border towns get news from Dayton or Cinci. The northern border towns (like where my mom lives) identify with Michigan. And the top western corner thinks it's part of Chicago (East Chicago, anyone?) With so many news sources coming from other states, "Indiana news" doesn't get much play around the state, and the LGBT community in those areas don't hear much about what's going on. It's frustrating - and the local groups need to do a better job of organizing the areas - and quickly!

As for my North Carolina comments, Matt is right to set the historical record straight. You see, one of the benefits of living in such an abysmal state is that you can compare yourself to other states and say, "Well, at least we're not THAT bad!" And when you live in Indiana, there's not much left to be "better than." We tend to pick the southern states - of which North Carolina is firmly in the pack. But hey, think of it this way... At least you're no Alabama... *grins*

Bill, your post prompted some very interesting comments.

I'm so stupid I had no idea there is a really cool festival in Corydon every year. Thanks for educating me A.J. Ah yes the key word to how we WILL eventually achieve equal rights in Indiana, "education". The only way things ever change is by educating the masses. Bigotry is born out of ignorance.

What I see from NCI is that there seems so be pockets of activism scattered throughout Indiana. It feels like from my perspective, and perhaps I am isolated up here, that there needs to be a major merging of these forces. Can you imagine how powerful it would be if we could organize the types of marches we saw during the civil rights movement? Wow. Our opposition doesn't want us to organize. They want us to remain scattered and isolated.

I'm dreaming I suppose