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D’Army Bailey

D’Army Bailey

Along with the sadness that came with our learning on Sunday that the great D’Army Bailey had died of cancer was, first, surprise, because the eminent lawyer/actor/author who was elected a Circuit Court judge last year for

the second time in his life, had been an active presence in the world right up until the end — participating, for example, in a spirited forum in April at the University of Memphis law school on the subject of the 1968 sanitation strike and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

But, after we had digested the reality of Judge Bailey’s passing, another more soothing thought occurred to us: If there was one factor that motivated D’Army Bailey in life, it was the twin pursuit of equality and justice, qualities that fused into a single idea in his mind, and in the mind, also, of his brother Walter, a longtime county commissioner — the two of them forming a tandem over the years dedicated to the eradication of every vestige of discrimination in either the private or the public sphere.

We took some satisfaction, then, that before he died, D’Army Bailey had seen the beginnings of final success for a cause that was important to him, and which was a continuing preoccupation for his brother Walter — the de-sanctification, as it were, of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest as a symbol of the racist past. Bailey had to know that the Memphis City Council had voted unanimously to remove the statue of Forrest on horseback from a park that no longer bore his name.

D’Army Bailey was a gentle, sensitive man, at home in any company, though his pursuit of justice had forever embroiled him in controversy. A graduate of Booker T. Washington and Clark College, Bailey migrated after graduation from Yale Law School to the San Francisco area, a hotbed of revolutionary ideas in the 1970s. Once there, he pitched into the ferment, got himself quickly elected to the Berkeley City Council and almost as quickly was subjected to a recall election that forced him out. He returned to Memphis to practice law with his brother, but the zeal to pursue human justice was still with him, and, in the course of time, that zeal became the energy that allowed him to midwife into being the National Civil Rights Museum on the Lorraine Motel site of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination.

Though he had ample helpers, both in and out of government, the museum was his idea, his creation, and it will be his monument to the world.

He also left for posterity two books on civil rights and charming, credible appearances in several movies, including The People vs. Larry Flynt, which was filmed here in Memphis, so we will still have traces of him in action to cherish.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (July 16, 2015) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Bianca Phillips’ post, “Council Committee Agrees on Relocating Forrest Statue and Remains” …

Absolutely appalling and barbaric. May the Memphis council rot in hell.

Jack Spencer

Ah, to see all the whiney little neo-Confederates and their defenders being made to feel so sad that their homages to treason and racism are being called out for exactly what they are: bad history. I mean, why other than to honor a “great American patriot” would a bust of Jefferson Davis be erected in a Memphis park in 1964?

Kilgore Trout

I am afeared of black people, once this statue is removed. His stern visage is all that has kept them at bay. See what happens when you give them the vote.

This Belle

I can understand why black people dislike who this man was. Absolutely. But the war was over 150 years ago. This is a part of our history. Not a pretty part, yet a part nonetheless. And until the Democrat Party, the political party of slavery, the KKK, and Jim Crow laws, the party that fought all the way to the 1960s against civil rights for blacks, is disbanded, then I disagree with digging up the bones of a dead person, no matter who he was.

How can blacks claim to be offended by something in the public when the Democrat Party continues to this day in politics, in government, in making the laws and rules they live under? This same party had a former member of the KKK in the Senate until he retired just a few years ago.

Yet, instead, the people are ranting about a pile of bones under a statue hardly anyone sees or hears about? Shame on all of you. How stupid and appalling. Kim Anglebrandt

There are few things that fascinate me more than clingy Confederate idolators waving the Stars and Bars and telling black folks to get over their ancient history.

Chris Davis

About Frank Murtaugh’s post, “Austin Nichols/Marc Gasol: It’s About Relationships” …

Nichols’ departure is not exactly a surprise. Although I live in Nashville, I still try to catch every televised Memphis Tiger basketball (and football) game. It’s not easy up here in Vandyland.

Back to Nichols. Most Tiger fans could see the curtain falling toward the end of the season. Nichols’ season-ending injury was bad timing, for sure. But there is just something not right with the Memphis program.

I’ve read the rants and the praises of Coach Pastner. Most coaches only dream of the talent Josh has snagged the last six years. But when a talent like Tarik Black bails for Kansas, the blame goes to the top. Pastner is a class act and represents the university well. He had big shoes to fill and almost bigger expectations. I think it has been the culmination of disappointment, disillusion (among certain players), and (dare I say it) the shrinking appeal of Tiger basketball. Something has got to give.

Paul Scates

About Bianca Phillips’ post, “Ballet Memphis Overton Square Design Plans Revealed” …

I just wanted to comment on the fact that a hotel will not be moving into the space occupied by French Quarter Inn in Overton Square. As a Midtowner in the 1970s who enjoyed the heyday of the area, I have been thrilled with the amazing resurgence. I was disappointed to find out the space would be used as a school for Ballet Memphis. It is an excellent organization and I do appreciate the theater/arts expansion in the area, but it seems like they could find a more appropriate Midtown space for a largely non-public building.

That corner is so high-profile in terms of attracting tourists and Memphians to enjoy the shopping, music, and restaurants. So much is just right there at the doorstep in Overton Square. The walk to our fantastic Levitt Shell, Memphis Brooks Museum, the original Huey’s, Shangri-La Records, and our Memphis Zoo would be so easy for tourists who do not have cars.

A hotel is desperately needed in the area. People are interested in Midtown, so let’s give them a nice place to stay!

Edith Davis

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Editorial Opinion

Give Commission Grants a Chance

Yes, there is always the prospect — especially in this barbecue capital of ours — that when money is handed out by politicians, it might qualify as “pork.” (Webster: “benefits dispensed or legislated by politicians to gain favor

with their constituents.”) This is especially a possibility when a legislative body such as the Shelby County Commission, which has been notorious for its internal divisions, agrees on a formula for dividing a portion of a budget surplus into equal sums for the 13 members to distribute in their districts.

The sum to be divided somehow ended up — with the consent of county Mayor Mark Luttrell’s administration, mind you — to be $1,300,000. It doesn’t take a genius with numbers to see how easily that figure can be split 13 ways, into integers of … hmmm, let’s see … an even $100,000. Wow, what a coincidence. Or is the right word synchronicity? Or pork?

The last possibility is the one that several members of the commission’s audience arrived at on Monday to express their displeasure at a then-pending proposal to allocate the aforesaid $1,300,000 into 13 even parts for individual distribution. And, as we learned from two commission members (one of them an original co-sponsor of the idea), there was enough negative feedback from their constituents to shift them from their original intent to vote aye into going nay instead. In the end, the proposal was approved 10-3 — which is still a lopsided vote of approval for that contentious body.

But there is more to the proposal, and the vote total, than the concept of a self-aggrandizing giveaway. It didn’t get spoken to on Monday, but the proposal also calls for the entire commission, as a body, to approve any given grant, once it is suggested by an individual member. To be sure, that process could invite the specter of collusion, if one has a suspicious mind. But it also could lead to the kind of genuine debate and cooperation and understanding of the peculiar needs of one’s colleagues that an elected deliberative body needs. And it tends to eliminate the kind of jealousy that used to mar debates of what to do with grant money under the old system of direct, sharp-elbow competition for whatever money was available for nonprofits. If you’re worried about unscrupulous wheeling and dealing, that was a system that overtly encouraged it.

Under the new system, each district gets its fair share of attention. Yet another new wrinkle worked into the resolution that passed is the explicit license for a commissioner to dispense one’s allotted sum for basic infrastructure needs.

“We’re gonna take care of your roads,” Commissioner Terry Roland told one of the protesting audience members on Monday, and it’s up to his constituents to see that he does.

The new grant-distribution formula is one of the several changes that would seem to follow naturally from the new single-member apportionment that occurred after the census of 2010. The single-member formula encourages, for better or worse, more hands-on engagement between commissioners and constituents, and we should set aside our innate cynicism long enough to give it, and its offshoot formulas, a fair chance to work.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (July 2, 2015) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Toby Sells’ cover story, “Engaging the Big Muddy” …

Toby Sells and Brandon Dill captured the mystery, the magic, and the majesty of the big river, not to mention the good-time fun. And Joe Royer is the Mississippi’s greatest Memphis protagonist!  

The only thing not covered were details about safety, e.g., when to go and when not to go — and the myriad considerations paddlers need to make when approaching such a powerful force of nature. Fortunately, there is an excellent guide available on the internet: The River Gator’s Paddler’s Guide.  

Anyone considering safe paddling in the Memphis area (and beyond), please visit the River Gator. Some of the Memphis routes described in the River Gator were pioneered by Joe Royer and his wife Carol Lee. Many Memphians were consulted as experts for the River Gator (including the editor of the Flyer!).

There are dozens of pages covering the many choices for paddlers in between Shelby Forest State Park and Memphis, including the main channel, and enticing alternate back-channel routes such as those behind Brandywine, Hickman, Loosahatchie, and Redman. There is a very detailed safety section describing the specific skills paddlers should know before attempting the challenges of the biggest river in North America.

John Ruskey

About Bianca Phillips’ post, “State Bill Would Allow Religious Clergy to Deny Same-Sex Marriage” …

I’m trying to remember anywhere in all of the arguments over this where gay people said they wanted to force ministers and other clergy members to marry them. Everything I’ve seen has been they wanted the government to allow them to marry and for the government to recognize it. That is all.

Charlie Eppes

I am pretty sure that religious clergy already have the freedom to refuse to marry two individuals regardless of the reason. The only purpose of this proposal is to score political points.

Barf

Today’s ruling clearly stated that no minister was going to be forced to marry a same-sex couple if they did not choose to do so. Again, this is a way of wasting Tennesseans’ taxpayer money on frivolous bills rather than working to decrease our uninsured or create jobs, neither of which the Republican majority has shown any interest in.

Lane Scoggins

This is just the first step toward man-turtle unions and the death of Christianity. I firmly believe that although Christianity survived the Roman empire, it is helpless in the face of gay marriage.

Jeff

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter From the Editor, “Black is the New White” …

VanWyngarden conveniently failed or refused to admit the lost war on poverty has much to do with the policies of the Democratic Party. Poverty, strife, and divisiveness will continue to swell until politicos stop rewarding bad behavior.

By his own admission, President Johnson’s “Great Society” entitlement programs were created to cement constituents to the Democratic Party. This nefarious scheme damaged the African-American communities most. Instead of the government concentrating on how to get citizens out of ghettos, the entitlement programs too often kept them there.

Victimization has become the key to successful Democratic election results. President Obama’s policies and that of most democratic strongholds in American cities have resulted in the greatest degree of black poverty and black-on-black crime in recent history.

There are no easy answers, but a strong economy fueled by less taxation and a healthier business climate will go far toward creating opportunity for all.

William Pollack

Many whites exist in a poverty of compassion that is compounded by the illusions created by what Douglas Adams called the “Somebody Else’s Problem” effect (SEP). SEP is a psychological effect where people choose to dissociate themselves from an issue that may be in critical need of recognition. Such issues may be of large concern to the population as a whole but can easily be a choice of ignorance by an individual.

Scott Banbury

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Fireworks Ahead

This issue of the Flyer precedes a 4th of July weekend, and the revolutionary impulses that attended the birth of this nation 239 years ago will be symbolically re-enacted in thousands of fireworks shows across the country and here in Memphis.

This time of year has often witnessed turbulent, world-changing events — the American declaration of independence and the start of the French Revolution, both in July, being only two of many. And the period leading up to this year’s observance of Independence Day has certainly provided an astonishing sequence of political fireworks.

Whatever deluded impulse provoked a young racist assassin to gun down nine innocent African Americans in a church two weeks ago in Charleston, South Carolina, his unspeakable action generated nationwide grief and outrage and an apparent determination to do away with the remaining barriers to some form of racial reconciliation in this country. That would seem to include the physical vestiges of nostalgia for the Confederacy, at least in places of official sanction. And for those among us, many good of heart, who find this thought unbearable, let us merely point to the extraordinary transitions that have occurred in recent years at the University of Mississippi, which has managed to divest itself of such outmoded symbolism with no great loss to local pride or alumni loyalty.

Simultaneous with this development has been a landmark Supreme Court decision upholding the recognition of same-sex marriage throughout the 50 states. It is fair to say that no prior ruling of the court, not even its 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision mandating desegregation of schools, has had the transformative effect that is implicit in Obergefell v. Hodges, with its stripping away of long-standing stigma.

And, though it was destined to be overshadowed in pyrotechnic intensity, the Supreme Court’s ruling one day earlier in the case of King v. Burwell may have long-range consequences just as lasting as any of the aforementioned by quashing a technical and pedantic challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

“Obamacare Cheats Death Again” was the headline of an emailed lament to his constituents this week from state Senator Brian Kelsey of Germantown, who has been in the vanguard of the legislative effort to forestall the ACA in this state, including Insure Tennessee, the Medicaid-expansion proposal by Governor Bill Haslam to channel billions of dollars into the state for the relief of Tennessee’s financially beleaguered hospitals.

Kelsey’s text, wherein he vowed to fight on legislatively, conceded it would do no good “to continue to file lawsuits” against the ACA. Kelsey and other opponents of the ACA such as Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, may delay the inevitable, but Obamacare would seem to be here to stay.

And that’s yet another of the several revolutions that are under way as of July 4, 2015.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (June 25, 2015) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Susan Wilson’s Last Word column, “Fashion Backward” …

This was fabulous! As a mother of three (yes, three!) teenagers who wouldn’t know a fashion statement if it hit her, I can completely relate.

Jen W.

Oh puhlease. I shopped at Banana Republic plenty when I was a size 12 and pushing 14. Some of the employees were bigger than me. They don’t shun bigger gals.

Nobody

Nobody: It’s called humor — H-U-M-O-R — something you seem to be lacking.

Pamela Cates

I find it best to wear anything that does not attract harpoons.

Crackoamerican

About Toby Sells’ cover story, “Embracing the Big Muddy” …

Wow, what a great issue, especially the wonderful story and pictures about Toby Sells’ paddle down the Mighty Mississippi. Seriously, it motivated me. I’m going to go buy a kayak this weekend and get out there and explore our “Himalayas.” Or at least our sandbars.

Darren

The moniker “Big Muddy” belongs to the Missouri River (the 150-odd mile Big Muddy River of Illinois notwithstanding).

C.L. Hartsfield

About Les Smith’s column, “Passing for Black” …

I think Rachel Dolezal is an opportunist. If two percent of the population in her city is black, are her job opportunities better in the two-percent pool or the 98-percent pool, especially considering hiring quotas?

She is also wacky, given the staged acts of discrimination she alleged. But she also said she was (part) Native American — which her parents deny. She said she felt isolated and unwelcome in “white” Mississippi, which is probably 50 percent black. But she obviously felt comfortable in Spokane’s 98 percent white population, since she’s lived there for 10 years.

Jenna C’est Quoi

She appears to be a nutjob. Aside from the comic relief value and perhaps more reflection on birth privilege, this story should have faded long ago.

Carbon-based

Les Smith makes more sense on this subject than all of the national “talking heads” put together. Memphis is so fortunate he shares his voice with us in the Flyer.

Mark Jones

About Wendi C. Thomas’ column, “Black Lives Matter” …

There are variations on the “do these three things to escape poverty” theme that have been around for years, but they all include a version of this:

1. Finish high school (at a minimum).

2. Wait until age 20 to have children.

3. Marry before you have any children.

I certainly agree that all those government-supplied things make folks a lot more comfortable. The issue is: Have we gone too far, and instead of helping people out of poverty, have we just made them comfortable enough that they choose to stay in it? I am not at all sure I believe every poor person wants to escape. Or maybe they would like to escape, but escaping takes more effort than they are willing to give.

Arlington Pop

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter From the Editor, “Strike Up the Brand” …

Re Chris Christie: Body shaming? Really? Good thing no one around here is fat.

Frank in Midtown

So tell me which socio-political group has PC policies related to “body shaming.” I’m perfectly okay with it, but it’s always good to know who considers you to be a boor and whether it matters. If I must look at a candidate whose politics I dislike, I prefer that he at least goes easy on my eyes. It’s not like any of them has an intellectually taxing or time-intensive job that precludes spending some time working out.

A handsome nitwit could replace almost any of them. And for a few, that would be redundant.

Brunetto Latini

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Put That Flag Away

It is a rather large irony — made larger in the course of recent tragic events — that the two most iconic elements of nostaligia for (excuse us, “homage to”) the Confederacy are not what they are usually taken to be. The rousing

song “Dixie” became an anthem of the Old South only after hostilities had ceased, mainly because of its sentimental lyrics and on account of a bounce and vigor that proved an irresistible pick-me-up for a defeated people. The song was actually originated and first performed — get this — as a bridge tune in a minstrel show performed in the North in support of the Union war effort. True.

Something similar is true of the well-known flag with 13 bright stars arranged in a crossed-X pattern, the ubiquitous emblem that people refer to as the “Confederfate flag” and that significantly motivated the racist fanatic Dylann Storm Roof to murder nine gentle black people who had welcomed him into their Bible study group in a Charleston, South Carolina church.

The official flag of the Confederate States of America was a far dowdier affair, a kind of knockoff of the established Stars and Stripes of the federal Union. It had a ring of 13 stars in one corner and three bold bars — a white one flanked by two red ones filling out the rest of the design. The “white” part of that and subsequent emblems created for the Confederacy by William T. Thompson, the designer of several of them, was, in Thompson’s words, to illustrate “the Heaven-ordained supremacy of the white man over the inferior or colored race,” and was meant to be “significant of our higher cause, the cause of a superior race, and a higher civilization.”

The crossed-X version that many call the “Confederate flag” was actually employed, in two different but similar forms: as the battle flag of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and as the Confederate Navy Jack.

Conspicuously, neither variant employs Thompson’s blatantly racist display of white. Both of those emblems accompanied men involved in a conflict that would cost 600,000 lives on both sides of the battle line, and both were retired when that war was over, only to be revived for nostalgic — and, increasingly, commercial — reasons.

Though innocent of overt racism in its own right, that flag has become the symbol of that which well-meaning people call Confederate “heritage” and, as such is stained with blood and hatred. Anyone wanting to know the actual heritage of the Confederacy should merely read the published manifestoes of the Southern states at the time of their secession. They are redolent with white supremacy, couched in terms so flagrant and impassioned as to make the likes of the aforementioned William T. Thompson blush, and they are available to be read, in all their outrageousness, by anyone who cares to Google them.

As for that Confederate battle flag, which is now the subject of so much animus, it should be taken down from any official place and confined to a museum. That horrific war and the despicable ideology that caused it are over.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (June 18, 2015) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Randy Haspel’s column announcing his candidacy for the GOP nomination, “Ask Not” …

Politics is nice, Haspel, but we need to bring back the Sunday church crowds. A mandatory .50-caliber machine gun in every pulpit! A 144-inch plasma screen direct link to NFL in place of the Baptist baptismal. Actual crucifixions in place of crucifixes! I’d go for that.

Crackoamerican

We’re inching ever closer to the Haspel/Jindal dream ticket our little group has been discussing at Smitty’s psilocybin-fueled rap sessions.

Dave Clancy

About Toby Sells’ story, “MLGW’s Smart Meter Program to Get Vote” …

Why do they want to buy a million meters if they state they have 421,000 customers?

This must have been a decision made by the “smart meter team.”

Deborah Scott

Deborah, it’s the Costco effect.

Mia S. Kite

Egads! I have a “weaponized weapon” on the back of my house, right outside my daughter’s room? What was I thinking?

Oh yeah, I want to be able to better monitor my electric usage and make changes in our habits that result in less demand to burn fossil fuels — and lower my contribution to climate change. Silly me.

Scott Banbury

About Wendi C. Thomas’ column, “Black Lives Matter” …

I think Wendi missed the whole root of the problem she’s trying to solve. The biggest problem is the destruction of the family unit. I would be interested to see a study on youth crime, the types of crime, and the severity of the crime. Also add in youth education outcomes.

Then compare those to the family structure of the child. Is it a single parent household? Is the child being raised by a grandparent? How many children are in the household? I’d be willing to bet you see some positive correlations between the household structure and positive outcomes for the child.

I believe the single most important issue is that of the family. One of the primary reasons gangs exist is because youth don’t have male role models around, so they turn to older male youths who organize in a Lord of the Flies manner and show some form of love and structure.

Please, Wendi, do an article on the topic of family structure and influence, and what can be done to change the culture that’s essentially eschewed the classic family structure.

GroveReb84

Reb, how about making sure that those males have jobs that will allow them to provide for their families and keep those units together?

LeftWingCracker

Great example of an external locus of control. The belief that all the ills of the community are related to outside factors — white people, the police, the laws on the books, etc. Until the community grapples with the problem that many of these issues are internal, no change will be accomplished.

apok

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter From the Editor, “A Bridge Too Far” …

Nice how TDOT lied about consulting with Crittenden County, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, and residents in West Memphis that will be greatly affected by the stupid traffic circle that will be a massive cluster flock.

Facebook Hater

Knoxville went through something similar a few years ago: SmartFix40. They shut down I-40 in downtown Knoxville to speed up the construction schedule. It worked. In fact, the construction company finished early to get a bonus. The sky is not falling.

Michael Shoenberger

A roundabout is designed to take the place of a four-way-stop intersection, eliminating the need to turn through oncoming traffic. In this location, a roundabout would create more of a traffic jam than the current cloverleaf ramp system, where you do not have to cross against oncoming traffic. This is the most idiotic idea I have ever heard.

Ncrdb1

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (June 11, 2015) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Chris Davis’ Fly on the Wall post, “U.S. Postal Service Issues Neverending Elvis Stamp” …

The sales of Elvis Presley stamps issued worldwide cannot be licked. The famous American one has sold more than six hundred million! His very first recording was recently auctioned for $300,000. Elvis fans are amongst the USPS’ biggest customers, as we trade internationally, buying and selling Elvis music and memorabilia.

Irishguy

About Jen Clarke’s Last Word column, “Forget Nashville” …

I think it’s all pretty much good natured kidding. The Nashville equivalent of this paper, the Nashville Scene, takes shots at Memphis quite often. Just snicker and move on. Though I have heard that the Tennessee Legislature is drafting a law to divert the Mississippi River to Nashville.

Midtown Mark

Born and raised in Memphis, but have called Nashville home for the last 12 years. With every new hipster tourist attraction that pops up in Nashville pretending to be vintage and old school … I miss Memphis more and more. I’ll take BBQ Fest and a Peabody rooftop party any day!

MTBlake

I am from Memphis and living in Nashville now. Memphis has much more character and cares about its history more. Nashville is all too anxious to tear it down and build new. I think if they could do it here, they would turn their backs on country music, which is their bread and butter.

Keep it up, Memphis. The tide is turning! Also, if Memphis/Shelby went metro government like Nashville/Davidson County, the population would jump up close to a million folks. Davidson would never catch up to that.

Greg

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s Letter From the Editor, “A Bridge Too Far” …

The Tennessee Department of Transportation has some serious problems with their planning engineers. They have screwed up the design on the 1-55 and 1-240 interchanges in Memphis for over 50 years, and they continue to be clueless. A roundabout? Are you serious?

This is all about the preservation of the French Fort neighborhood. What they should do is build the flyover through French Fort, and pay whatever it costs to relocate those people. To not do so will cost hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity, wages, and travel time for everyone else.

Joel G. Wood

Southerners love roundabouts. NASCAR rules!

Crackoamerican

I find it hilarious that people of West Memphis are so against the bridge closure because of traffic backups and delays. I cannot remember a time when there wasn’t some type of ridiculous interstate construction project going on over there. I’m sure most are pork projects to line pockets. While doing all of these I-40 rebuild projects from Memphis to Little Rock over the last few years, Arkansas could have made the highway six lanes for that stretch. The truck traffic is insane!

Highpoint T

About Bianca Phillips’ post, “Tennessee Equality Project Releases New Advocacy Agenda” …

Can someone please explain how someone’s sexual identity needs political lobbyists? Is there a straight lobby? You have an agenda.

You’re gay. Fine, that’s your business. This movement grew out of the sexual revolution of the 1960s. Sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll, and instant gratification.

Carrie Trask

Yes, there is a straight lobby/non-profit. It’s called the Family Research Council. There are others, too. I was a small child coming out of the 1960s. I never had sex until I was 40 and I’ve never taken drugs. That’s nobody’s business but my own, but your bigotry cried out for correction, so I just made it public again. That’s the reason for gay rights lobbyists and non-profits, too, by the way: because bigots need correcting.

Brunetto Latini

Correction: The “Plowing Through Punk” music feature in the June 4th issue was written by Andrew Earles, not Chris Shaw.