Pressure Mounts For Veto Of State Funds For Anti-Gay Kentucky College
From 365Gay.com:
Another Democratic state senator is calling on Governor Ernie Fletcher to veto $10- million dollars earmarked for a pharmacy school at the University of the Cumberlands.
Senator Daniel Mongiardo, from Hazard, says the building isn’t needed because there is already a rural pharmacy program in the works in Hazard. Mongiardo, who is also a medical doctor, says money for health care must be used wisely.
He says the University of Kentucky Center for Rural Health, which is located in Hazard, was built to meet the needs of the area and help recruit pharmacists to work in rural areas.
The funding for the Cumberlands pharmacy school has been criticized after the Baptist school expelled a student who announced he was gay on a personal Web site…
Although I was sympathetic to the gay student expelled from the University of the Cumberlands, the fact remains that it is a private institution “affliated with the Southern Baptist Church” and is entitled to its beliefs under the First Amendment. I strongly disagree with the University on this but such is their right. Having said that, the University is not entitled to also receiving state funds. State Senator Mongiardo is right and I hope others will assist him in stripping this University of taxpayer-dollars. Kentucky’s own state constitution provides the grounds for doing so regardless of the University’s position on homosexuality:
No portion of any fund or tax now existing, or that may hereafter be raised or levied for educational purposes, shall be appropriated to, or used by, or in aid of, any church, sectarian or denominational school. [Section 189]
How ironic though that the Blaine Amendment adopted to the Kentucky Constitution, and indeed most state constitutions, during the height of anti-Catholic hysteria in the late 19th-century could now come back to bite them in the ass.
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These events are what makes me optimistic about our future. This is a prime reason I don’t fear the Religious Right like I once did. They’re reduced to petty spiteful acts against us and even those cannot stand for long. The hypocrisy of their taking federal money while attempting to preach about their “rights” is well exposed for all to see and comment on. They can change their policy and swallow that bitter pill or they can refuse the money and grumble bitterly about the “unfairness” of the government/society. Either way they lose, yet again.
Comment by VinceTN — April 23, 2006 @ 12:54 pm - April 23, 2006
I am just trying to figure out when Cumberland College became a University.
That said, I don’t know that the state should be funding a pharmacy college at a private instution-religious or otherwise.
Comment by just me — April 23, 2006 @ 4:20 pm - April 23, 2006
It’s interesting you think the idea that a Baptist affiliated university has done this and you feel it’s ok for them to expel this student, but not receive state funding.
Do you think it would be ok for them to expel students of other faiths (jews, catholics, muslims, etc)? Or how about people of a color other than white?
Comment by Kevin — April 23, 2006 @ 7:57 pm - April 23, 2006
Kevin: In answer to both of your questions, yes. Such is their right under the First Amendment which neither you nor I have to like or agree with but we are bound to respect in matters of law. If we choose not to than OUR rights are threatened as well because where do you propose to draw the line? When it’s drawn, how about when someone wants to scooch it a lil’, then a lil’ more, a lil’ more, etc? Having said that, no religious group, however magnaminous we may think their views are, is entitled to state or Federal funding. It is there that you and I may express our displeasure, well that and exercising our own freedom of speech.
Comment by Average Gay Joe — April 23, 2006 @ 8:16 pm - April 23, 2006
Kevin the fact that it is a religiously run University shouldn’t be a shock to anyone intending to go there-they know that it is affiliated with and supported by a religious group-and a fairly conservative one at that.
Comment by just me — April 23, 2006 @ 10:58 pm - April 23, 2006
They are a private organization. They can expell, or refuse to admit, anyone they like, and for whatever reason, whether you like it or not.
Comment by rightwingprof — April 24, 2006 @ 11:10 am - April 24, 2006
There was a case recently where a large Baptist College decided not to renew a teacher’s contract because he had converted to Catholicism. And he wasn’t even a teacher of religion. So it’s not that uncommon.
Comment by Patrick (Gryph) — April 24, 2006 @ 1:21 pm - April 24, 2006
Another thing to think about however is that there is legislation pending in the Senate that would provide a loophole to schools and colleges on whether they can have an official policy of anti-gay discrimination and still get State-approved accreditation. And its for sexual orientation only, if they discriminate on basis of race, etc., they would not be eligible for accreditation. The legislation has already passed the House of course.
Comment by Patrick (Gryph) — April 24, 2006 @ 1:25 pm - April 24, 2006
#6 rightwingprof — April 24, 2006 @ 11:10 am – April 24, 2006
They are a private organization. They can expell, or refuse to admit, anyone they like, and for whatever reason, whether you like it or not.
Not necessarily. If there was no reference to “homos not being welcome” in their catalogs or other materials designed to induce people to apply or attend, and if they subsequently expell a homo, it may very well be fraud in the inducement (to apply) or breach of contract (if they are accepted and admitted, and are subsequently expelled).
There was a case several years ago in which a college refused to provide a course that had been advertised in the catalog, because the college deemed that there was insufficient demand for the course. A student sued, claiming breach of contract–based on the facts that the course was advertised in the catalog and there was no indication in the catalog that there was a minimum numbers requirement. The student won.
The catalog and other materials form part of the contract between the college and the student.
Comment by raj — April 24, 2006 @ 3:56 pm - April 24, 2006
6: You didn’t explicitly say it, but then you do think it’d be ok for them to expel non-whites, simply because they should be able to do so?
Comment by Kevin — April 24, 2006 @ 6:20 pm - April 24, 2006
Kevin: you mean like Yahweh ben Yahweh or the Nation of Islam? I disagree with both of these groups just as much as I do with their white racist counter-parts like the Christian Identity Movement. Yet as despicable as all of these groups are each one of them are guaranteed freedom of religion under the First Amendment. The same goes for all religious groups, including those which some heterosexuals may trouble with such as Soulforce or the Metropolitan Community Church. Of course NONE of these groups, racist/homophobic or not, are entitled to public funding.
Comment by Average Gay Joe — April 24, 2006 @ 7:50 pm - April 24, 2006
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Pingback by Right Wing Nation » Blog Archive » Legislate With Care — April 25, 2006 @ 1:59 pm - April 25, 2006
Okay….. I read the Blog, Nice site I found and I bookmarked the site… Plan on coming back later to spend a little time there.
Comment by Breast Enhancement — September 24, 2006 @ 3:07 am - September 24, 2006
[...] Closed, supporting the ecclesiastical discipline of Catholic legislators who support abortion, and an article on Gay Patriot, about the University of the Cumberlands receiving tax monies from the Commonwealth of [...]
Pingback by Legislate with care « Orthodox Catholic — April 20, 2008 @ 11:52 am - April 20, 2008