Memphis Flyer – Page 988

Music Video Monday Valentine’s Day Special Thursday Edition: Stephen Chopek

Post author By Chris McCoy
Post date February 14, 2019

If Valentine’s Day were three days ago, this would be a more appropriate Music Video Monday.

But we go with the calendar we’re given, not the one we wish we had, and Stephen Chopek’s new video is ideal for Valentine’s Day. MVM’s favorite minimalist auteur covered Shane McGowen and the Popes “The Song With No Name” for his upcoming EP, which drops next month. It’s an Irish “dirge for Valentine’s Day,” says Chopek. So this one’s for all you lonely hearts out there in music video land. Keep searching ’til you find the right channel.

Music Video Monday Valentine’s Day Special Thursday Edition: Stephen Chopek

If you’d like to see your music video on Music Video Monday that are actually on Mondays, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

Tags Shane McGowen, Stephen Chopek

Intermission Impossible Theater

Most Chill — Be More Chill is Super Fun, Pretty Vacant

Post author By Chris Davis
Post date February 14, 2019

Be More Chill

Be More Chill’s so exciting I’m already thinking about the possibility of a sequel. Call it Most Chill. Or, Be More Chill With a Vengeance. Whatever it’s called, It should be self-referential, telling its own true story about a relentlessly upbeat wannabe Broadway musical that debuts in Jersey to no big whoop, then closes (also to no big whoop), but records a cast album anyway and that blows up huge on the internet, winning the hearts and minds of 15-year-olds from coast to coast.

Be More Chill’s immense online popularity practically insured a sellout when the show was resurrected off Broadway. Flash forward less than a year, Be More Chill is commencing previews for a proper Broadway run, there’s a movie version in the works, and best of all for Memphis theater fans, thanks to a quirk of BMC’s unusual path to glory, a locally-produced take on the zeitgeist-y show is also currently available in the 901, courtesy of a forward-thinking University of Memphis theater department.

It’s hard not to love Be More Chill‘s clever lyrics or its bubblegum-crashed-into-a-video-game soundtrack. I’m not so sure about the complete package, though. It’s relentless adorability can’t be underestimated, but what sounded so fresh as a disembodied cast recording comes off a touch too derivative in three dimensions. Think: Little Shop of Cyrano Meets Every Teen Makeover Movie Ever + TRON — The Musical! Or, something like that.

Most Chill — Be More Chill is Super Fun, Pretty Vacant (2)

Be More Chill introduces us to protagonist Jeremy Heere. He’s a loser-gamer-nerd-bro crushing hard on drama geek Christine and looking to level-up his real life social game with the aid of a black market pill filled with mind-altering, anthropomorphic nanotech. The writing teeters on the edge of camp but turns on absolute sincerity. It’s most effective when tapping the endlessly convergent reserves of teen anticipation and awkwardness evident in numbers like “Two Player Game,” “Rich Set a Fire (The Smartphone Hour)“, and “Michael in the Bathroom at a Party.”

Inside Be More Chill‘s fat package of infectious ear-memes, “Michael in the Bathroom” stands up and stands out. It’s a great little pop song in its own right and the scene it spans is the one unforced part of a show that wants to be loved just a little too hard. But when Jeremey’s best friend, Michael, finds himself flying solo, hearing all the action he’s hiding from and reflecting on his pitiful predicament, the show gets the breathing room it needs. All conflicting sensibilities fall away and for a minute or six everything is perfect. So much sound-sugar stirred into one cup can feel contrived but “Michael in the Bathroom” is rich, fragile, forever young, and completely alive.

Most Chill — Be More Chill is Super Fun, Pretty Vacant

I’m not yet so old and creaky that I don’t enjoy Be More Chill‘s super-now, digitally-enhanced vernacular. I do worry, though (LOL), that the book’s particular language (smiley face, poopy face, kitty paw) may usher this musical into premature period-piece status. But, the U of M’s loving, lighting-forward production has the air and energy of a cultural moment similar to the school’s storied early run of Hair. Only with adderall, smart-tech, and social media standing in for Vietnam, LSD, and sunshine.

But who can complain about a show with such an exuberant ensemble that’s clearly having that much infectious fun? And when’s the last time I’ve been in the middle of an audience that showed up knowing all the lyrics and nobody was dressed up like Tim Curry? I’ve got to admit, it’s kind of nice when that happens. Once you endure its charm flood and Be More Chill‘s hoary themes of self- acceptance, there may not be much there. But, as is the case with many great pop songs that have taken our pulse, burned down the charts, then vanished into deep nothingness, sometimes all you need is a good hook.

I don’t review as many college shows as I used to once upon a time. It’s hard for an outside observer to know enough about student needs to comment too specifically without running the risk of affirming a bad habit or accidentally trampling over personal growth. But a lot of good, progressive-minded work happens on campus and, because of its weird history and potentially bright future, I wanted to write more than I normally might about this one. If nothing else, watching Be More Chill reminded me that student actors rarely get to play characters roughly their own age, living right now, with such familiar and (sigh, yes) relatable problems. Even if the show is something less than the sum of its songs, it’s a great fit for the school and for the moment, and a tremendous opportunity to see a lot of young talent swinging for the fences.

Tags Be More Chill, Michael in the Bathroom, University of Memphis

Letter From The Editor Opinion

It Was 30 Years Ago Today …

Post author By Bruce VanWyngarden
Post date February 14, 2019

It was 30 years ago this week — February 16, 1989 — that a stalwart band of dreamers snuck out in the pre-dawn darkness, setting up newspaper boxes all over Memphis and filling them with the first issue of the Memphis Flyer. Later that morning, thousands of Memphians woke up to find a new voice had come to town — one that was progressive, provocative, edgy, and much more free-wheeling than traditional local print media.

It was a year that certainly needed a new voice. The remnants of ’80s music still dominated the pop charts — Paula Abdul, Roxette, Fine Young Cannibals, Bobby Brown, Milli Vanilli (Fake Music!), Madonna, Richard Marx. The grunge years were just around the corner.

On the political stage, Ronald Reagan had just exited, stage right, making way for the transitional four-year presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush. Americans had no idea what was to come. The Clinton years were just around the corner.

The new paper was a melange of serious news, trivial stuff (celebrity birthdays, anyone?), gossip, movie reviews, art reviews, record reviews, a nightlife column, sports, News of the Weird, and video reviews. Remember when we rented videos? Yeah, that was cool.

Many of the contributors to that first issue are still around and still doing good work: Dave Woloshin, Tom Prestigiacomo, Tim Sampson, Joe Mulherin, Cory Dugan, to name a few. There was a column by former Commercial Appeal editor, Lydel Sims, who quoted legendary ad-man John Malmo as saying all Memphians should “think outrageous thoughts” about their city. I just saw John on the elevator this morning. He’s still around and no doubt still thinking outrageous thoughts. The editorial cartoon was by now-noted actor and illustrator, Chris Ellis.

The cover story, by David Lyons, took a hard look at a local chemical company, Velsicol, and its alleged sales of a banned chemical to third-world countries.

The advertising staff back then, led by Jerry Swift, even managed to sell a few ads: Opus 2 Computers, Breakaway Athletics, Zinnie’s, Flashback, 1910 Frame Works, Huey’s, R.P. Tracks. Is it a coincidence that all those businesses are still around? I think not, my friends. Behold the power of Flyer advertising!

There was also a letter from publisher (then and now) Ken Neill, explaining just what the heck Memphians were holding in their hands. Literally. “Right now you hold in your hands the first edition of the Memphis Flyer, the city’s new weekly newspaper,” Neill wrote. “We hope this first issue gives you a feel for what the Flyer will be: bold, sassy, controversial, entertaining, and informative … ”

Thirty years later, I’d say mission accomplished. We’ve weathered five presidents (though the current one has been something of a strain), at least twice that many mayors and county mayors. We’ve survived where other print media have fallen prey to the digital revolution. We’ve seen the city of Memphis boom and grow in ways we couldn’t have imagined in 1989. And we’ve seen some of the city’s intractable problems endure.

We’re planning to celebrate the Flyer‘s 30th anniversary throughout the coming year with promotions, events, a spectacular Best of Memphis party this fall, and a special anniversary issue on April 25th. (If you’re a business or organization interested in becoming part of that issue, contact our ad director, Justin Rushing. If you’re an individual who’s just looking to support our journalism, check out our Frequent Flyer program on the Flyer’s website.)

As always, we’re looking ahead — and looking forward to another 30 years. We believe the Flyer is an essential part of the news fabric of this town, a necessary progressive voice at a time when regressive and xenophobic policies are being pushed at the highest levels of our government. The way in which we get our news and information may change, but we plan to stay “bold, sassy, controversial, entertaining, and informative.” And we hope you’ll stick with us.

Tags 1989 music, George Herbert Walker Bush, Ken Neill, Memphis Flyer beginnings, Memphis Flyer's 30th anniversary

Editorial Opinion

Small Steps Toward Progress in Nashville

Post author By
Post date February 14, 2019

What is it they say? Two steps forward and one step backward? That’s sometimes cited as a formula for the pace of social and governmental advance in this country.

And in this state, for that matter. Those who followed the moves of the Tennessee state government in the wake of last year’s election can certainly see the formula at work. Multiple bills to legalize medical marijuana in the state, one way or the other, have been introduced in the General Assembly, and, while opposition remains and none of the bills are guaranteed to pass, all of them have received serious consideration on the front end.

Governor Bill Lee

Count that as a plus, maybe one of two whole steps. On Capitol Hill in Nashville, the air has cleared to the point, for that matter, that the subject of recreational marijuana can be joked about by members of the legislative leadership, as happened in a recent session of the Senate brass with the press when a caucus chair had to endure teasing by his peers when he claimed that he knew no pot-smokers in his county.

But while legislative attitudes have relaxed on that issue, they have firmed up on another one that seemed to have been given a decent funeral only last year. This is the matter of private school vouchers — or, as newly configured, “education savings accounts.” State Senator Brian Kelsey introduced voucher legislation for something like 16 straight years before opting not to do so last year, perhaps because of feedback from his East Shelby County constituents, many of whom now see vouchers as a threat to the municipal school districts they are paying tax money to maintain. But new Governor Bill Lee likes the idea of what he calls school “choice,” and so does Speaker of the House Glen Casada, who, like Lee, hails from Williamson County, a posh Nashville suburb where the idea of privatizing things traditionally part of the governmental sphere is regarded with equanimity.

So maybe at least one step back. (That could turn into multiple steps if any of the education bills dealing with “choice” gets some traction.) The real advance in this year’s session of the legislature is happening in the domain of civil justice, where — as was noted in a recent Flyer cover story — there have been a plethora of bills with bipartisan support seeking to minimize or ameliorate criminal incarceration and to ease the re-entry of convicted felons into society once they have completed their sentences in a satisfactory manner. Criminal justice reform has always been a concern of the political left. That politicians of the right are now also aboard the reform bandwagon is a genuine step forward. Speculations as to their motivations range from the idea that cost-effectiveness comes with reform, to the fact that welcome additions to the labor force are thereby made possible.

In any case, the partisan nature of support for criminal justice reform is one gift horse that should not be looked in the mouth. This is progress, pure and simple, and only the most flagrant kinds of failure could set it back.

Tags Criminal Justice Reform in Tennessee, Glen Casada, Gov. Bill Lee, legalized marijuana in Tennessee

Politics Politics Feature

Rocky Issues at Shelby County Commission

Post author By Jackson Baker
Post date February 14, 2019

Monday’s meeting of the Shelby County Commission began with the attendees under instruction to take a deep breath. This was both because County Mayor Lee Harris had a breath consultant on hand as part of his current public health campaign, and because a controversial — and potentially aggravating — subject was on the agenda. That subject belongs to a type of issue that can be filed under NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard). At question was whether the commission should approve an application from Memphis Stone and Gravel to construct a mine site for gravel excavation in a remote part of the Rosemark community in upper Shelby County, as well as the approaches to that site. (As part of the latter endeavor, the company volunteered to improve an already existing road and to maintain it at the company’s own expense.)

The Office of Planning and Development had given the project a preliminary approval, but the county Land Use and Development Board had turned it down.

The case for the mine was made by lawyer Michael Fay, who told commissioners that Memphis Stone and Gravel, in business locally since 1910, was an indispensable source of gravel for construction purposes in Memphis and Shelby County, that there were no alternative sites in the county for the high-grade gravel required for future projects, and that, if the application should be denied, Memphis Stone and Gravel only had enough such gravel on hand to last three years, after which it might be forced to move out of the county.

“We are the only supplier that can meet the needs of the airport,” Fay warned, adding that if the company were forced to import gravel from elsewhere that would end up adding as much as $2.2 million to the costs of an ongoing construction project of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Various employees of Memphis Stone and Gravel also testified to the importance of the mine for their personal livelihoods.

The opposition to the application consisted mainly of residents of the Rosemark area, including a woman who suffered serious injuries when her car was met on a narrow road by a truck carrying a load from an earlier, smaller gravel plot near the proposed site. Most of the other residents expressed safety concerns, too, as well as quality-of-life issues and potential drops in the value of their properties.

Two former chairs of the commission, Terry Roland and Heidi Shafer, joined the protesters. Roland at one point branded a “bald-faced lie” a claim made by the applicants that no other fully equipped gravel company operated in Shelby County.

Shafer recalled the dilemma she had back in 2011 when a similar proposal came before the commission. She said she deliberated seriously on arguments pro and con and finally opted for the latter.

Shafer’s position of eight years ago was roughly the same as it was this year, said Commissioner Amber Mills, whose District 1 contains the site of the proposed mine.

In the end, the commission majority seemed to reason similarly. The final vote was one for (Commissioner Reginald Milton), eight opposed, and two abstaining.

At the same commission meeting, Jimmy Rout was elected County Historian to succeed the longtime holder of that unpaid position, Jimmy Ogle. Ogle, who is moving to Knoxville, will be honored for his service by the commission at a subsequent meeting.

• Both local political parties are in the throes of reorganization. The Shelby County Republican Party held its precinct caucuses Sunday at Arlington High School, and the delegates elected there will meet at the same location on Sunday, February 24th, to elect new officers, including a chairman to succeed the retiring Lee Mills. The new chair seems certain to be Chris Tutor, a lawyer at the Butler Snow law firm and, so far, the only person seeking the chairmanship.

The Shelby County Democrats are scheduled to hold party caucuses on March 30th, electing the party executive committee and a larger parliamentary body called the “grass roots” committee.

The members of these two bodies will meet one week later and elect a party chair, who may or may not be the current chairman, Corey Strong. It has long been assumed by local Democrats, mainly on word from Strong himself, that he would not seek reelection, but a recent news report suggested (on what evidence is unknown) that Strong has had a change of mind.

Tags Chris tutor, Corey Strong, Heidi Shafer, Jimmy Ogle, Jimmy Rout, Memphis Stone & Gravel, Rosemark, Terry Roland

Music Music Features

DittyTV: A Global Music Network on South Main

Post author By Alex Greene
Post date February 14, 2019

I want my MTV! The sentiment may seem dated, but many of us feel the same tug: to regain that sense of discovery we had when new music cascaded out of the screen, all day. Yet the network’s concept, which seemed so revolutionary at lift-off in the 1980s, had difficulty profiting from its innovation, and phased out most of its music-only content more than a decade ago. And honestly, by then we were tired of all the hair metal anyway.

Still, the desire for that viewing-as-discovery experience has remained, and that’s what the Memphis-based DittyTV network is targeting. Since 2014, the storefront studio on South Main has been plying the web-waves with new music, slowly amassing a global reach that most Memphians are oblivious to. And to top it all off, there’s not a trace of hair metal.

Cameraman Jake Hopkins films Liz Brasher and Steve Selvidge for DittyTV

I first met Ronnie and Amy Wright soon after they relocated here from Washington, D.C., in 2010, looking for something beyond the Beltway life. Within a couple of years, they had fashioned the studio space that’s still their headquarters, and were shooting professional live performance videos of bands. And they let bands keep the footage and the multitrack audio masters to use however they saw fit. It seemed too good to be true.

But their labor of love, DittyTV, had legs, especially when they refined their operation with a stronger identity. Being roots music buffs, framing DittyTV as an Americana network was a natural fit. For one thing, the term is increasingly inclusive. “Americana is a wide net, but you’re not going to extremes like EDM or metal,” Ronnie says. “It’s not really a genre, it’s a collection of genres that people seem to love from their 20s into their 60s and 70s. And our viewership bears that out. People write in and say, ‘I put it on for hours and hours.’ That’s what I did in the MTV days. You just let it roll and use it as a soundtrack.”

A major turning point was being invited to broadcast the last Folk Alliance conference held in Memphis before that organization’s move to Kansas City. Ronnie recalls, “The first Folk Alliance we did was in 2012. We slowly grew, and now we’re up to more than five million viewers every month.”

“One of the things we’re trying to do is expand onto other platforms,” Amy adds. “Like streaming apps with their own channel lineups, or ‘skinny bundles.’ We’re at an advantage, because we’re already a digital network. A lot of the traditional channels have to convert their signal to a digital stream, and that’s caused problems. But we’re already digital.”

And they’ve smoothed out the wrinkles of their operation into 12 programs of music videos, ranging from the earthy R&B of Soul Side to the solo songwriters of Campfire. Their 12-hour cycle is further peppered with music news and interviews, and at the heart of it are the live in-studio concerts that DittyTV started with. The live coverage of music festivals has only grown, now including Nashville’s Americana Fest and Memphis’ own Ameripolitan Music Awards, coming up next week.

Soon they’ll be opening the space next door as a retail shop, Vibe and Dime, featuring LPs, musical instruments, and Ditty bling. “We’ll have live music on the weekends,” says Ronnie. “It’s sort of a Swiss Army Knife. We can shoot interviews in the window.” The Wrights hope the shop raises their local profile, which has not matched their exponential growth in other markets.

“Thirty percent of our audience watches from outside the United States. The network definitely has an international feel to it, but most people love the fact that it’s in Memphis, including artists that aren’t from here.” And DittyTV has emulated the same independent spirit that animated other Memphis operations like Sun or Stax. “We can change and adapt,” says Ronnie.” Our programming is more fresh and organic. We’re open to anybody that wants to submit a video.”

Tags Americana, Amy Wright, DittyTV, Liz Brasher, Ronnie Wright, Steve Selvidge, Vibe and Dime

News The Fly-By

Flowing Pains

Post author By Toby Sells
Post date February 14, 2019

CREDIT: Bruce VanWyngarden

A hotel industry leader said he was “deeply concerned” a redesigned Tom Lee Park could negatively impact the Memphis in May (MIM) festival last week, but a riverfront leader said the events will fit and prosper in the new park.

Mississippi River Parks Partnership (MRPP) unveiled its design for the park two weeks ago. That plan adds contours, trees, facilities, and more to the now-wide-open Tom Lee Park.

Bruce VanWyngarden

Tom Lee Park model at Beale Street Landing.

Wayne Tabor, president and CEO of the Memphis Metropolitan Hotel and Lodging Association, said in a recent letter to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, that he was told the redesign would reduce festival capacity and attendance. He said this would “reduce the festival’s ability to generate revenue, tourists, room night sales and would reduce the economic impact of the festival.”

“This concerns us because the month of May has consistently been one of the highest hotel occupancy months of the year and one of the largest sales revenue months for Downtown restaurants,” Tabor said in the letter.

However, MRPP president and CEO Carol Coletta, said her team has spent two years and $100,000 focused on the ongoing success of the festival at Tom Lee Park. The design, she said, has been informed by attendance figures, logistical needs, and event-staging preferences from MIM. The festivals, she said, fit into the redesigned Tom Lee Park.

The three large fields now present in the plan, for example, were created and sized to handle the three main stages and the ever-swelling crowds for Beale Street Music Festival, Coletta said. Maps drawn up by Studio Gang, the Chicago-based design firm behind Tom Lee Park’s new look, show enough space around the stages to handle the capacity and add more.

Tabor said Memphis in May would have to be moved next year during the park’s renovation, and revenues lost because of it “could never be recuperated.”

Construction of the new park is expected to take 18 months and begin right after MIM this year. So, under this schedule, the park would be under construction for the festival next year.

Coletta said hosting the festival in Tom Lee Park next year is not off the table. But, as MIM requires the entire park for the festival’s production, she said she was unclear if it would work. She said the Downtown Memphis Commission is now identifying other locations Downtown for the festival in 2020.

Tabor said he was also concerned the new park would reconfigure the tent siting for the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, moving many tents to Riverside Drive. Doing so would make it “just like any other competition around the country — Chicago, Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis.”

Studio Gang’s configurations show some tents moved to the street, but the majority will still be located in the park, on those large, grassy fields designed for the music-festival stages. All of the tents fit in the space, according to the configurations, with capacity for about 40 more. However, Coletta said the final design for barbecue will be strictly up to MIM.

News The Fly-By

Fly on the Wall 1564

Post author By Chris Davis
Post date February 14, 2019

Reality News

Is it just me or is reality bending to look more like reality TV all the time?

According to various reports Alden Global Capital, the hedge fund that controls MNG Enterprises, is positioning itself for a hostile takeover after Gannett, The Commercial Appeal’s parent company, balked at its $1.8-billion acquisition proposal.

Shade has been traded between Gannett and Alden/MNG since the big G initially characterized the proposal as “not credible.”

“Buying Gannett is a tall task … I’m not sure Alden can get the financing to buy Gannett,” a media banker told The New York Post in a story suggesting MNG’s true ambition was to be acquired by Gannett.

“Indeed, given MNG’s refusal to provide even the most basic answers to Gannett’s questions, it appears that MNG does not have a realistic plan to acquire Gannett,” Gannett responded.

Shortly after the announcement, MNG took its beef live describing Gannett’s plan for the digital news business as “pie in the sky” and “not believable.”

These comments are in keeping with previous disses from Alden, which had released statements dogging “the team leading Gannett” for having, “not demonstrated that it’s capable of effectively running this enterprise.”

“The Death Star of Newspaper Chains,” as MNG had been called, still publicly insists that Gannett overpaid for digital assets and is currently “presiding over a declining core business” and cash flow. “Gannett’s deep structural problems are better fixed by experienced operators such as MNG,” MNG concluded.

Opinion Viewpoint

Call Out the Pences

Post author By Richard Cohen
Post date February 14, 2019

I have a question for those Republicans who, along with Democrats, demand the resignation of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam for the abhorrent photo that appeared on his page in his medical school yearbook: If bigotry is repugnant, why not demand the resignation of Vice President Pence for his ugly views on homosexuality? And while they’re at it, why not insist that Pence’s wife Karen resign her position at a school that discriminates against gays and lesbians?

I can guess their answer: The Pences are deeply religious, and their views on homosexuality are based on their religious convictions. To this, I say, so what? The Bible was used to justify slavery, and in my own time, racists cited this or that biblical passage to assert that racial segregation was precisely what God intended — the “curse of Ham” or the “mark of Cain,” both used to add biblical authority to the rantings of bigots. The mark or the curse is now on the Pences, who share views that in our nation’s history have caused much suffering, including violence.

The other thing Republicans would be sure to say is that racism is different than “mere” anti-gay bias. Yes, indeed. Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. Virginia is the state that once led the nation in number of slaves. The inhumanity of slavery is difficult to fathom. It’s more difficult still to comprehend that great men — Washington, Jefferson, Madison … you know the names — not only condoned it, but benefited from it.

Later came slavery’s progeny — the Jim Crow era. I am talking of everything from the absurdity of segregated state parks to the barbarity of lynchings. In Atlanta in 1899, a black man was mutilated and then burned, with portions of his body distributed among the crowd. The man’s name was Sam Hose. He was probably innocent of murder but not, of course, of being black.

The destructive power of blackface and Ku Klux Klan robes in that yearbook picture cannot be underestimated. But let’s ponder, too, the harm of hateful homophobia. It has taken countless lives over the years, caused huge suffering and, like racism, persists to this day.

Homophobia is a staple of the racist right — Nazis, white nationalists, and other adherents of mindless goonery — and, at times, results in the murder of gay and transgender people. In 2017, 20 gay, bisexual, or queer men were murdered in hate crimes, an increase of 400 percent from the previous year. The problem is hardly going away. And, infamously, in 1998, Matthew Shepard, was beaten, tortured, and left to die because he was gay. Last year, his ashes were interred at Washington National Cathedral in a ceremony presided over by a gay Episcopal bishop, with music provided by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington.

And when racial hatred and homophobia are combined, the results can be particularly disturbing. Last week, singer and actor Jussie Smollett was attacked in Chicago by two men who allegedly yelled anti-gay and anti-black epithets.

Pence has long been criticized as being hostile toward LGBTQ issues. He has linked same-sex couples to a “societal collapse” and even once seemed to support conversion therapy, which is a form of torture. A vice president who has expressed such intolerance is a dangerous model.

In certain corners of the right-wing media, criticism of Karen Pence for recently taking a job at the Immanuel Christian School in Springfield was denounced as nothing less than religious bigotry. After all, the argument went, the school is a Christian school, ultraconservative and ultratraditional, and is entitled to teach according to its deeply held beliefs. No doubt. But while the United States has traditionally given religion wide berth — and still does — lines have been drawn. Utah was not admitted as a state until the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints renounced polygamy.

No one is advocating a law requiring Immanuel Christian to practice tolerance, either in its pedagogy or its hiring practices. But the First Amendment that guarantees the school’s rights also gives us the right to criticize. It is simply wrong to foster a belief that homosexuality and same-sex marriage are immoral.

I have been torn about Northam — about whether a single yearbook photo negates a lifetime of tolerance. But I am not torn about Mike and Karen Pence. They are figures of consequence, and their bigotry — regardless of their religious justification — has to be confronted.

Richard Cohen writes for the Washington Post Writers Group.

Tags Blackface, LGBTQ bigotry, Pence's homophobia, Ralph Northam, Richard Cohen