What the hell?
No, that headline isn’t the result of a random word generator run amok, it’s an accurate description of an event tomorrow at Drake Law School sponsored by the USDA, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Fund. Thursday’s LGBT Rural Summit is part of a series of USDA events designed to reach LGBT folks living in rural areas.
Which actually sounds like a pretty good idea. If members of the LGBT community feel isolated and bullied in metropolitan areas, it must be a hellish nightmare to be different with no one around for miles. Farmers Only has a whole app and hokey national ad campaign based around the fact that straight people can’t meet each other in rural America — imagine trying to sort out your identity on top of that level of isolation. Add in the USDA’s interest in getting more people taking advantage of its programs and you have an event.
That said, the folks at The College Fix turned up the derision on this project — because what’s the point of college Republicans if not to mock difference? — criticizing the USDA’s spending decisions, implying that the LGBT community may not be a significant enough player in rural America to justify the expense. And there’s something a little tacked-on about the USDA pitching farm loans to an exclusively LGBT audience.
But, honestly, who cares? What’s the expense here, flying running-mate runner-up Tom Vilsack to Iowa? Pretty sure he was going to head there anyway. If 1/100000th of a penny of my taxes are needed to get the Secretary of Agriculture to Des Moines, I feel like I should be able to swing that.
And if that money’s needed to make a law school/Cyndi Lauper/Farming celebration of lesbian farmers a real thing, it’s worth it just for the headline.
USDA teams up with Iowa law school and Cyndi Lauper to celebrate lesbian farmers [The College Fix]
#RuralPride Campaign: LGBT Rural Summit Series [National Center For Lesbian Rights]
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Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.