What’s it like to be in Alabama right now?

My family is from Alabama, a county so rural and off everybody’s map that it defines “nowhere.” I wasn’t born in Choctaw County but I’ve spent lots of time there.  So the series of positive headlines about gay marriage stun me.  I’m encouraged and actually proud.  And while the sorry state of things in Ukraine, Iraq, Syria and other hot spots around the globe has held our attention for so long, back home in possibly the least expected place – at least to me – there is some wonderful news.  I don’t know what it’s like to be gay in Alabama but I hope that what has happened in the last couple of weeks continues to complete fulfillment of their rights regarding marriage and protection under the law.