State probes contract between Vanguard University and O.C. fairgrounds over discrimination concerns

The state is scrutinizing a partnership between Vanguard University and the OC Fair & Event Center over a possible violation of antidiscrimination laws in light of the private Christian school’s stance against same-sex relations.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is looking into a $75,000 contract between the state-owned fairgrounds and the university, its Costa Mesa neighbor, after a complaint was filed by activist Reggie Mundekis.

“Vanguard University is free to hold those beliefs and run their university how they choose to,” Mundekis said. However, she said that makes the school ineligible to have a contract with the publicly owned fairgrounds.

The Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which enforces the state’s civil rights laws, confirmed it would launch an investigation in a June 28 letter to Mundekis.

“Vanguard University does not currently have any contracts or MOU’s with the OC Fair & Event Center that include a cash exchange/contribution,” said David Vazquez, director of external relations for Vanguard. “The university’s previous cash contribution MOU ended on Dec. 31, 2018. Any inquiries about OC Fair compliance with state regulations would need to be directed to the OC Fair.”

Vanguard is affiliated with the Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal Christian denomination that rejects same-sex relationships. According to an official church statement: “The Assemblies of God ... teaches that any and all same-sex sexual attractions are to be resisted“ and “believers are to refrain from any and all same-sex sexual acts or conduct, which are intrinsically disordered.”

“The Fellowship supports the dignity of individual persons affirming their biological sex and discouraging any and all attempts to physically change, alter or disagree with their predominant biological sex — including, but not limited to, elective sex-reassignment, transvestite, transgender, or nonbinary ‘genderqueer’ acts or conduct,” the statement continues.

Vanguard’s student code of conduct also states “individuals may not engage in a romanticized same-sex relationship” and includes “homosexual behavior” as prohibited sexual misconduct alongside “sexual sins” such as adultery and sexual assault.

Violations of university standards are subject to discipline.

Last year, the Fair & Event Center agreed to pay Vanguard $75,000 to display signage at the campus theater, cross-promote programming and dispatch the university’s musical theater students to perform at the Orange County Fair, as well as the Imaginology and Salute to Veterans events at the fairgrounds. The contract does not have a state-required antidiscrimination clause.

Fair & Event Center spokeswoman Terry Moore said Tuesday that, as far as she knew, staff had not yet prepared a formal response to the complaint. However, the organization’s administrative offices are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays while the OC Fair is underway.

The complaint comes amid a movement for more LGBTQ inclusivity at the fairgrounds — located at 88 Fair Drive, across the street from Vanguard. The fair hosted an Out at the Fair festival last weekend and the Fair Board voted last spring to fly the rainbow pride flag — a symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities — year-round on the Costa Mesa property.

This isn’t the first time an agreement between Vanguard and local government has raised ire.

In 2014, the university ended its participation in a reduced-tuition program for county employees following a complaint alleging that the school’s guiding principles violated the county’s nondiscrimination policy on the basis of faith and sexuality.

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