Elinor Nauen

While South Carolina is in the running for the last state to approve marriage equality, much has improved over the years. You can be out & not get killed. Steve's friend who preached on Sunday said he used to be racist, homophobic, antisemitic and a Republican. He's proud to have put that behind him.

Not everyone has, of course. I saw an awful lot of gun & ammo shops, & some Bible-thumping. And a Confederate bar, just a couple of miles from where my friends live.

But people in SC — & everywhere — have seen the world even if from afar on the internet or television. Nowhere is as isolated as it once was, whether it's South Carolina, South Dakota, or even the East Village. (We have Republicans now.)