‘Washington Post’ Cartoonist Blasts Indiana’s ‘Freedom to Discriminate’

Washington Post editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes’ latest opinion piece takes a satirical jab at Indiana’s so-called “Freedom to Discriminate.”

The article, which appeared today in the Washington Post‘s Opinions section, depicts Indiana Governor Mike Pence, among other things, as a horse-mounted warrior championing the religious rights of Hoosiers–the demonym given to residents of Indiana.

The WashingtonPost editorial also contains a cartoon of a lesbian couple visiting a shop where a sign on the door reads “We reserve the right to refuse service to people going to hell.”

Then, a behorned Roman-esque figure wielding a shield–presumably a jab at Pence’s antiquated beliefs–evokes the “corporations are people” argument Pence has used as a defense for his anti-LGBT religious protection laws.

The WashingtonPost cartoonist also harkened back to a time when interracial unions were forbidden on the grounds that they violated the will of God.

As the website Think Progress notes, Mississippi’s early-century senator, Theodore Bilbo, a “virulent racist” and active member of the Ku Klux Klan, defended his opposition to interracial unions on religious grounds.

In his book Take Your Choice: Separation or Mongelization, Think Progress writes that Bilbo said: “Purity of race is a gift of God, And God, in his infinite wisdom, has so ordained it that when man destroys his racial purity, it can never be redeemed.”

And as recently as the 1970s, Bob Jones University outlawed all forms of interracial mingling, and even went as far to prohibit affiliation “with any group or organization which holds as one of its goals or advocates interracial marriage.” These policies Bob Jones University defended on the grounds of “sincerely held religious beliefs,” Think Progress notes.

The final cartoon in the Washington Post article shows a dumbfounded Mike Pence seeing stars (and dollar signs) after being bludgeoned in the head by a flying Apple logo. The jab is a reference to the piece written by Apple’s openly gay Chief Executive, Tim Cook, for the Washington Post.

In the article, Cook blasts legislation like Pence’s, which he says “rationalizes injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear.”

“They go against the very principles our nation was founded on, and they have the potential to undo decades of progress toward greater equality,” Cook said. “That’s why, on behalf of Apple, I’m standing up to oppose this new wave of legislation — wherever it emerges.”

[Photo Credit: Washington Post]