The anti-LGBTQ+ school that employs Karen Pence received nearly a million dollars from taxpayer funds intended to help small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by the watchdog group Accountable.us.
Immanuel Christian School, which is located in Springfield, Virginia, reportedly received a $725,000 loan from the Paycheck Protection Program, which was intended to keep businesses from being forced to layoff employees during the economic slowdown. An estimated $525 billion was handed out, and despite the program’s stated intent, a recent report found that the majority of dollars went to larger companies, many of which have ties to the Trump administration.
Accountable.us’ COVID Bailout Tracker does not state what the almost three-quarter-million sum paid to Immanuel was used for, but the school has claimed the money will allow Immanuel to retain all of its 115 employees. The loan was reportedly finalized in May.
Kyle Herrig, president of the nonpartisan watchdog group, called the government’s propping up of Immanuel “shameful.” “This money was meant to help mom and pop small businesses meet payroll and keep the lights on — instead the wealthy and well-connected cashed in,” he told the LGBTQ+ newspaper Washington Blade in a statement.
The private Christian school, where the Second Lady has taught art on and off for two decades, has a long history of abusive statements and policies. When Karen Pence announced in January 2019 that she planned to return to her teaching position at Immanuel, it was widely reported that its administration bans students from being LGBTQ+ or having same-sex parents and refuses to hire LGBTQ+ employees.
A 2018 parent agreement, which all families at Immanuel are required to affirm, states that the definition of marriage is “one man and one woman in a lifetime commitment to each other.”
More vaguely, the school handbook further asserts that it 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.”
Former students have described the school’s environment as “stifling” for queer students and called it a “hotbed of right-wing fanaticism.” “No openly gay or lesbian teacher was ever turned away, because it would have been clear from a mile away this wasn’t the place for them,” wrote Ian Cronkite, who attended Immanuel from 1989 to 1997, in a HuffPost op-ed.
Karen Pence’s husband, Vice President Mike Pence, has defended his wife’s employment at an anti-LGBTQ+ school as merely an aspect of her “religious belief.”
“The freedom of religion is not just enshrined in the Constitution, it’s enshrined in the hearts of the American people,” he said in a March 2019 speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. “But make no mistake about it. The freedom of religion is under attack in this country.”
But Mike Pence, too, has a long history of attacking the LGBTQ+ community. During his decades in public life, Pence has signed a statewide “religious freedom” bill into law in Indiana, attempted to push for a statewide constitutional amendment blocking Indiana same-sex couples from marrying, fought against the adoption of LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections, and presided over an HIV outbreak. He has also referred to being LGBTQ+ as a “choice.”
As Donald Trump’s vice president, Pence was reportedly a key proponent of his boss’ executive order blocking transgender people from entering the military. That order is likely to be overturned by President-elect Joe Biden after he takes office in January.
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