Hey, remember Mike Pence? The very normal vice president of the United States who calls his wife “Mother” and refuses to be alone with other women? Well, it turns out that “Mother,” AKA his wife, Karen Pence, works at a school that explicitly discriminates against LGBT teachers and kids. Cool!
According to HuffPost, Pence started a job this week at Immanuel Christian School in Virginia. The school’s “parent agreement,” which is available online, says the school will not admit students who participate in or condone “homosexual activity,” or who dare to disrupt the “unique roles of male and female.”
From HuffPost:
“Moral misconduct which violates the bona fide occupational qualifications for employees includes, but is not limited to, such behaviors as the following: 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,” says the application.
The application says that the school believes “marriage unites one man and one woman” and that “a wife is commanded to submit to her husband as the church submits to Christ.” The application asks potential employees to explain their view of the “creation/evolution debate.”
Imagine thinking that premarital sex and cohabitation with any gender constitutes “moral misconduct” in 2019, particularly if your husband is the vice president to DONALD FUCKING TRUMP.
The Draconian agreement further requires that parents sign on to their “biblical morality” policy. This means that any families who condone or practice “sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity” are in conflict with the school’s principles.
Literally some Handmaid’s Tale shit.
But before you get worried, this is all legal! In Virginia and many other states, it’s still totally fine for private employers to discriminate in their hiring based on sexual or gender identity.
This isn’t the first time that Pence has worked at Immanuel Christian School. She previously worked there for 12 years during Mike Pence’s tenure in Congress. Their daughter, Charlotte Pence, also attended the school. Pray for her.
“I am excited to be back in the classroom and doing what I love to do,” Pence said in a statement, according to USA Today. “I have missed teaching art.”
We assume that the art projects in Pence’s class must look something like this.
As governor of Indiana, Mike Pence instituted a number of homophobic, discriminatory policies, including passing a law that allowed the very kind of discrimination against LGBT people practiced by Immanuel Christian.
LGBT activists are already slamming Pence’s association with the school.
“Why not teach at a school that welcomes everyone, instead of choosing one that won’t serve LGBTQ kids, kids of LGBTQ parents?” JoDee Winterhof, a senior vice president at the Human Rights Campaign, told HuffPost. “The Pences never seem to miss an opportunity to show their public service only extends to some.”