When the news first appeared that Karen Pence, wife of V.P. Mike Pence, had taken a teaching job at a school which prohibits gays, it was, for me, like a whack on the side of the head. Here was an act of professed bigotry against millions of Americans all in the name of religious freedom.
Karen Pence, as a private citizen, has the right to seek employment at any school she chooses. However as the Second Lady of the country, she should be held to a much higher standard. Choosing a fundamental Christian school which publicly claims that homosexuality is an individual choice and that young people can be turned into heterosexuals through some wacky conversion therapy flies in the face of the latest scientific and medical research.
Foisting this mumbo jumbo religious ideology onto the national stage elicits both painful and potentially ugly, violent consequences for millions of people who identify with the LGBTQ community. And think of the vulnerable young people who are currently struggling with their sexual identity in high schools and colleges who look at the message Mrs. Pence is sending and suffer even more.
Most Administrations caution their First Ladies (and Second) to keep their helpful ’causes” as neutral and non-controversial as possible. Mrs. Pence instead of helping to unify and help the country divides the nation and stirs up misinformation, controversy and hate. The Pences through their righteous determination to be out front with their religious beliefs trample on the nation’s principles of societal as well as religious tolerance.
And to support the notion that the Pence’s are seriously out of line comes this article in the The Washington Post by Richard Cohen. He criticizes Karen Pence’s job choice by using the Bible and slavery to buttress his arguments.. He states that bigotry is bigotry – one type no different or repugnant than another. He compares Virginia’s Gov. Northam’s racist choices as no different than that of the the bigotry of the Pences. In the end, Cohen concludes that Mike Pence should resign due to his bigoted position on homosexuality and Karen Pence’s deciding to work at a school which prohibits gays.
See what you think of Cohen’s persuasive skills and whether he deserves some debate points for his arguments. And if you agree with him that if Northam resigns, Pence should as well.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-not-just-northam-republicans-must-confront-the-bigotry-of-the-pences-too/2019/02/04/a807063c-28b4-11e9-984d-9b8fba003e81_story.html?utm_term=.1ec123d31c95