Gipson’s Holy War

After Representative Gipson from Mississippi had declared a holy war on gay people by calling on Americans to kill them, George and Victor had decided it was time to leave. The battle cry had been taken up in the southern states and weeks of vicious massacres had left the rest of the country appalled and the president closely guarded by troops and in speech. Even in liberal Los Angeles, vigilantes with an axe to grind were targeting anyone outside of the gay ghettos. The governor had declared a state of emergency, called the National Guard, and set up checkpoints along the borders of Mexico, while the northern states did along Canada’s. Victor had pointed out that these checkpoints were most likely screens to keep gay people inside rather than to prevent the perpetrators of the massacres from leaving. Still, they had spent enough lost time not sleeping, so they packed up a few things, drained their bank accounts, and fled south. As they neared the checkpoint, they saw a near riot as gay men and women were taken from their car to be beaten while passersby drove by in silent avoidance. George took Victor’s hand as they approached the guards.