Pence calls criticism of wife’s Va. school job ‘offensive’

WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence has responded vehemently to criticism surrounding his wife’s decision to teach at a private school that seeks to exclude homosexual and transgender students and staff members.

Following news that Karen Pence accepted a part-time job teaching art at Immanuel Christian School in Springfield, Va., the vice president said the negative reaction was “deeply offensive.”

“My wife and I have been in the public eye for quite a while. We’re used to the criticism,” Pence told Eternal World Television Network on Thursday. “But I have to tell you, to see major news organizations attacking Christian education, is deeply offensive to us.”

In an employment application, Immanuel Christian School’s requires applicants to agree that marriage can be only between a man and a woman.

The application adds that “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, and sexual abuse or improprieties toward minors as defined by Scripture and federal or state law.”

Furthermore, a parent agreement requires guardians to acknowledge that the school may deny admission or kick out a student who engages in activities that conflict with a “biblical lifestyle,” such as “condoning sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bi-sexual activity.”

The backlash came after HuffPost reported that Karen Pence had accepted a job at a Virginia school that discriminates against the LGBTQ community.

The school did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Appearing with his wife at the March for Life on the National Mall on Friday, Pence told protesters demonstrating against abortion that she “is many things: She’s a mother. She’s an advocate for military families. ... She’s even an art teacher at a Christian school. And I couldn’t be more proud of our second lady, my wife, Karen Pence.”

Pence’s wife has taught at Immanuel Christian School in the past.