State funding anti-gay schools

Maxwell: Most have outgrown such hateful, discriminatory thinking.

During pride month, Florida politicians love talking about their passion for equality.

They’re much less eager to talk about the anti-equality programs they fund the rest of the year — specifically millions of public dollars they send to schools that discriminate against LGBT families and even expel students who say they’re gay.

Many Floridians aren’t aware they fund such a system. And guys like Gov. Ron DeSantis and House Speaker Jose Oliva don’t like to talk about it.

But you should know it’s out there. Because it’s blatant.

At one of Florida’s approved voucher schools in Brevard County, for example, being gay is actually the only expellable offense listed in the school’s “ethics” policy.

Lying, cheating and destruction of school property are also bad, according to the Merritt Island Christian School student handbook — but only to the extent that they’re listed as

“Class II infractions” worthy of punishments like a five-day suspension.

Being gay or transgender is grounds for expulsion — and for denial of admission to this school that received more than $700,000 in public funds last year to educate more than 140 students on state “scholarships.”

At Trinity Christian Academy in Volusia County, the school provides a list of sentences students are not allowed to utter. “I am gay” is one of them.

“I am homosexual/transgender” is another.

Saying either one aloud is “basis for dismissal,” according to the student handbook.

Trinity receives more than $1 million a year in public voucher money. And at Orlando’s Calvary City Christian Academy, the school’s “lifestyle policy” explains to parents that homosexuality is a “sexual immorality” punishable by expulsion.

DeSantis visited Calvary earlier this year to tout this school — which has a policy against letting gay students walk its halls — as the future of Florida’s schoolchoice movement.

To be clear: Many churches and faith-based schools aren’t obsessed with homosexuality and don’t embrace discrimination.

Some — like Orlando’s Bishop Moore, which is highly regarded for both sports and academics — not only embrace inclusion, they have policies against racism, sexism “and homophobia.”

Also to be clear: Any church or individual is, of course, free to think LGBT citizens are sinners unfit to walk or learn alongside them. But government shouldn’t fund such discrimination.

Yet Florida does.

Asked why the governor thinks that’s OK, DeSantis spokeswoman Helen Ferre said: “You say this is controversial when it is really about opportunity. Families want more options for their children and the waiting list grows. The real controversy is that families with less income cannot find better school choices without vouchers.”

But you could allow choice without allowing discrimination.

Oliva and Senate President Bill Galvano declined to comment.

The leader of Step Up for Students — the group that makes millions running the state’s voucher program — claimed his organization opposes anti-gay policies, even though it champions schools that have them.

“SUFS opposes discriminatory behavior, practices and policies against LGBT+ students in all public and private schools, including those participating in state-supported scholarship programs,” Step Up president Doug Tuthill wrote in an email.

“What gobbledygook,” responded state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an openly gay Democrat from Orlando who noted that Step Up has done nothing to promote LGBT-equality protections. “You have to take action to support fairness and equality. You can’t just say it.

“They still accept the money and charge an administrative fee to send a child to a bigoted school.”

Before the Legislature voted a few weeks ago to once again to expand its $1 billion voucher system, Smith filed an amendment that would have prohibited any voucher school from denying admission based on sexual orientation. The response from Republican leadership in the House? “No debate. No questions. It was just ignored,” Smith said.

That means more public payments to schools with these anti-gay policies — all funded by a mix of tax dollars and contributions from companies like AutoNation, Duke Energy and Marriott Vacations that finance vouchers in lieu of paying taxes.

State Rep. James Grant of Tampa was one of the few Republicans willing to answer questions. Grant said he personally opposes anti-LGBT policies, but believes religious institutions have a right to practice their faith.

Asked if he would be OK funding schools that ban blacks, Grant said: “They’re not at all the same thing.”

And Jews? Instead of offering a direct answer, Grant noted that faith-based organizations often play vital roles in providing public services like health care. I agree with that. In fact, I promote many faith-based nonprofits for just that reason.

But if a publicly subsidized faith-based hospital was denying service to gay patients, we’d have a problem.

Grant said he didn’t view the program as state-funded discrimination, since parents choose the schools. (From a list of schools “approved” by the state.) He also said he was proud of his record on equality, saying he’d rather parents have even more options — maybe even a school specifically for transgender kids, rather than forcing other schools to accept them.

That sounds a lot like “separate but equal.”

In fact, this whole debate is reminiscent of the dark chapters of America’s civil-rights past — when people cherry-picked Bible passages to justify racial discrimination and even slavery.

Most people and societies have outgrown such thinking. Heck, most young people can’t understand why older generations ever discriminated in the first place … which is why it’s so troubling to see schools hellbent on teaching intolerance again today.