Second Lady Karen Pence has accepted a position as an art teacher at the Immanuel Christian School in Springfield, Va., which does not allow LGBT students or families to enroll and will not offer employment to LGBT applicants.
The school’s guidelines are listed in its “parent agreement” which states Immanuel Christian School “can refuse admission to an applicant or to discontinue enrollment if the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home, the activities of a parent or guardian, or the activities of the student are counter to, or are in opposition to, the biblical lifestyle the school teaches.”
“This includes, but is not limited to contumacious behavior, divisive conduct, and participating in, supporting, or condoning sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity, promoting such practices, or being unable to support the moral principles of the school. (Lev. 20:13 and Romans 1:27.) I acknowledge the importance of a family culture based on biblical principles and embrace biblical family values such as a healthy marriage between one man and one woman,” the agreement continues.
Immanuel Christian School also requires applicants to agree to its guidelines on its employment application. One guideline states that the applicant will not engage in “moral misconduct” which includes “heterosexual activity outside of marriage (e.g., premarital sex, cohabitation, extramarital sex), homosexual or lesbian sexual activity, polygamy, transgender identity, any other violation of the unique roles of male and female, sexual harassment, use or viewing of pornographic material or websites, and sexual abuse or improprieties toward minors as defined by Scripture and federal or state law.”
Pence will teach at the school, where she also taught while Vice President Mike Pence was in Congress, two days a week. In a statement, she says she is looking forward to returning to teach.
“I am excited to be back in the classroom and doing what I love to do, which is to teach art to elementary students,” Pence said.
Kara Brooks, Pence’s spokeswoman, defended the decision in another statement saying “Mrs Pence has returned to the school where she previously taught for 12 years.It’s absurd that her decision to teach art to children at a Christian school, and the school’s religious beliefs, are under attack.”
