Molly Beck

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - A candidate for the state Supreme Court created a private religious school that prohibits teachers, students and parents from being in gay relationships — a rule drawing criticism from liberals and gay advocates who say the policy is "disqualifying."

State Appeals Court Judge Brian Hagedorn in 2016 founded and now oversees Augustine Academy in Merton, which partners with Ambleside Schools International, a Christian, college-preparatory school that blends private and home-based education.

The school's statement of faith says the school community believes that "Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church."

In its code of personal conduct listed on the school teacher application, school officials say teachers may be fired and students may be disciplined or forced to withdraw from the school if they or their parents violate the code's policies. The rules include no "immoral sexual activity," defined as any activity that occurs outside of marriage between a man and a woman.

Private religious schools and colleges based in Christian teachings often hold the view that sexual activity should only occur between a man and a woman who are married.

Concordia University, for example, has a policy that states "consensual sexual behavior outside of marriage is prohibited" and that God "forbids sexual union with persons of the same sex."

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The Augustine Academy policy was made public Thursday by liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now in a news conference. The release comes after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported on Hagedorn's law school era blog posts, which show he once characterized the overturning of an anti-sodomy law as a basis to legalize bestiality and called Planned Parenthood a wicked organization.

Hagedorn has worked as a judge on the state Appeals Court since 2015 and has repeatedly said he puts aside his personal beliefs and would continue to do so if elected to the Supreme Court.

Analiese Eicher, executive director One Wisconsin Now, said Hagedorn's "actions tell a different story."

"While a judge, he founded and to this day remains intimately associated with an organization that actively discriminates against the LGBTQ community," Eicher said.

The Supreme Court hears cases to settle a number of disputes, including discrimination issues involving gay residents. Critics of Hagedorn have said his personal views, many of which reflect evangelical Christian principles, would be impossible to set aside if he were elected to the nonpartisan court.

But a spokesman for Hagedorn, who sits on the school's board of directors, said Hagedorn "treats everyone fairly under the law" and that his job as a judge "is to say what the law is and not what he think's the law should be" regardless of personal beliefs.

"He is running for the Supreme Court to protect religious freedoms for all Wisconsinites, regardless of faith," spokesman Stephan Thompson said. "Yet the latest smear is just another example of attacks on his own faith."

Thompson said Appeals Court Judge Lisa Neubauer, who is running against Hagedorn for a 10-year term on the court, and "her liberal allies" will stop at nothing to take over the Supreme Court, even smearing Brian for founding a Christian school to better the lives of children."

In response, a spokesman for Neubauer said voters will "need to decide" whether Hagedorn can put his personal beliefs aside and be impartial, citing Hagedorn's work as former Gov. Scott Walker's legal counsel and his past blog posts.

Court records show no lawsuits alleging discrimination against the school's officials or Hagedorn. A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights did not respond to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday.