Kentucky college
that expelled gay student will get state funding

Kentucky state senator David Williams will announce Tuesday that the University of the Cumberlands, which expelled a student two weeks ago for being gay, will receive $11 million in state funding to build a new pharmacy school and provide scholarships--even though national pharmacy-school accreditation requirements prevent discrimination against gays. The Republican legislator from Burkesville will make the announcement at the Baptist college's Gatliff Chapel, The Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Williams, who is up for reelection this year and faces a May primary, has asserted that the pharmacy school will still be accredited in the end, although he did not explain how. Since 20-year-old Jason Johnson's expulsion on April 6, gay rights supporters, including the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, have protested plans to give taxpayer money to the private college, calling on Republican governor Ernie Fletcher to veto the item in the state budget. Democratic state lawmaker Ernesto Scorsone, who is gay, said, "We should not be budgeting bigotry." (The Advocate)