I'm writing this entry while in Austin--my second vacation in Texas ever. Benson and I are here for a wedding for one of his friends.

I'd heard that Austin was the only liberal enclave in Texas--and hence, one of the only places worth visiting (and living). It may be liberal, but the Bay Area still has it beat--the liberalism here seems to have a bit of a mean streak to it, and Austin is still located in a conservative state.

Benson and I had lunch at a The Pita Pit near UT Austin. The signs pointed towards a liberal-type establishment, with "fresh thinking, healthy eating" advertised on the door, and we could easily have imagined this place being in San Francisco--until we heard the anti-gay jokes from the workers.

After spending a few hours at the Texas state house (getting a tour and just walking around), we headed up to Central Market, which we thought was something like an outdoor farmer's market. In fact, it was essentially an over-sized Whole Foods, with a lot of organic foods and bulk bins. But still--this wasn't something I figured you'd see in Texas. (Leaving aside the fact that Whole Foods was started in Austin.) Again, though, there was a bit of an experience to remind us we weren't in the Bay Area. At the end, when I was paying at the checkout, one of the payment options was the "Lone Star" card. I asked if that was like food stamps, the cashier said (in an irritated manner) "Yeah; I can't believe people with food stamps shop here since I'm paying for it." It seemed like a rather cold-hearted thing to say--how could you possibly be upset with someone wanting to provide their kids with fresh, pesticide-free food?

Just when I was thinking that Austin's reputation for liberalism was a little bit tainted, we met up with a few friends who were also in town for the wedding (Kisa, Kenneth, Nessa and Nessa's cousin April). We had dinner at Ruby's BBQ near UT Austin, which serves "all natural beef" and vegetarian foods, then headed to Ruta Maya, a decidedly liberal joint. There were no mean streaks to these places. In fact, Ruta Maya featured anti-Bush bumper stickers and quite friendly people. We got coffees and sat outside playing Scrabble for a while--and in doing so more than one person came up to us and just started talking to us about the game and about where we were from. They also provided some recommendations on what to do while we're here.

I was quite surprised about the lack of Bush "pride" here in Austin. After all, Austin is the capital of the state of which he was governor. Maybe we're just going to the "wrong" places (or perhaps the "correct" locations). The only references to Bush were the official Bush portrait in the capitol rotunda, an annoying presence of "W" on half the computer screens in the House of Representatives chamber, and surprisingly few W bumper stickers. In fact, we saw more anti-Bush bumper stickers here than pro-Bush stickers.

So with barely 24 hours in this place, I could imagine myself being comfortable enough to live here. But then I remember the little things--like, oh, the fact that my relationship was illegal until just over a year ago and that no Domestic Partnership (or equivalent) exists here--or is likely to anytime in the future. Austin has the misfortune of being located in a decidedly anti-gay state.

This is something that straight people find hard to understand. Liberals can move to many "liberal enclaves" throughout the country. But if gay people want to have basic rights, we can only live in a few select areas. (Thankfully, the areas tend to be places you'd want to live anyway.)