Karen Pence 'excited' to teach at school that bans gay students and parents

Vice President Mike Pence’s wife Second Lady Karen Pence has taken a part-time job teaching art to students. However, the school that she now works for discriminates against the LGBTIQ+ community.

The school clearly states that it won’t hire or enroll anyone from the community. Despite the controversy, the second lady has shared her excitement at teaching again.

In December last year, Second Lady Karen Pence, 62, accepted a teaching position at the Immanuel Christian School in Northern Virginia. She started working this week teaching art twice a week until May.

However, the school isn’t any ordinary one as it openly discriminates against the LGBTIQ+ community. The school’s “parent agreement” states that it will refuse admission to students who participate in or condone homosexual activity.

Its 2018 employment application requires candidates to sign a pledge to not engage in homosexual activity or violate the “unique roles of male and female.” It is, however, unclear if Pence signed the application or not.

It reads:

“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.”

The 8th point on the application requires applicants to sign their initials next to a list of beliefs. The school also openly defines the union between two people as “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 states that certain “moral misconduct” would be disqualifying, such as “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.”

The school only welcomes families who don’t condone, practice or support “sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity” Pence previously taught art at the school from 2001 to 2013 when her husband, Vice President Mike Pence, was a member of the House of Representatives.

Their daughter Charlotte Pence, 25, graduated from the school. On Wednesday, Pence’s communications director Kara Brooks addressed the matter in an email.

She stated:

“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.”

The controversial school only enrolls kindergartners through eighth graders at its campus. On Tuesday, the second lady announced her return to the school with a statement.

She said: "I am excited to be back in the classroom and doing what I love to do, which is to teach art to elementary students."

Even though she’s currently under negative scrutiny at the moment, Pence made an effort last year to do something good. She opened a campaign to help military spouses get the support and services they need.

In a speech at the Army's Fort Carson in Colorado to military spouses, she revealed that they were now eligible to be reimbursed by the federal government for relicensing or recertification costs under a defense bill that President Donald Trump signed into law.