What Kyle Goudy wants biblical-values voters to know

Kyle Goudy, now in a Nov. 5 runoff against educator Anne Douglas for the District 4 seat on the Orange County School Board, supports eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, cutting civics from the curriculum, arming instructors in classrooms and allowing them to opt out of teaching required material that “violates their moral and/or religious beliefs.”

That’s according to responses the GolfTee business development manager gave on his iVoterGuide survey, published by AFA Action, the American Family Association’s government affairs affiliate. The tagline for the voting guide is “Grounded in God. Rooted in research.” 

The American Family Association was founded in 1977 to serve as a “firewall between biblical values and those who seek to destroy America and the principles on which she was founded,” according to the iVoterGuide site. (The organization is vociferously anti-LGBTQ+— one leader blamed homosexuality for the Holocaust.) AFA Action was formed in 2006 for “advancing godly values in government.” The voting guide has been published since 2009. 

The iVoterGuide candidate survey contains 31 questions that span conception and abortion, sex education, religious liberty, marriage, health care, the economy, arming teachers, school curriculum, book banning, diversity, voting and funding public education.

Goudy didn’t answer every question. Here are the answers he did give. 

iVoterGuide: I support eliminating the U.S. Department of Education and giving control back to states and communities.

Goudy: Agree

[Ed. Note: The U.S. Department of Education is “the only federal agency that is mandated to ensure equal opportunity and accountability and to fund states and school districts for elementary and secondary education,” according to the Center for American Progress. Eliminating the department is a primary goal of Project 2025.] 

iVoterGuide: What is your position on government funding of public education from Pre-K through college?

Goudy: I think Education (sic) should be more local. We have Boards (sic) that preside over Education (sic) at every level (Local, State and Federal), (sic) and I believe this to be a waste of taxpayer dollars. Any tax dollars given to schools should be spent wisely and with the sole focus of educating kids about the core subject areas and real life skills. Parents should raise their kids and schools should educate them.

iVoterGuide: The state should fund education by allowing dollars to follow the child instead of the bureaucracy, through a program which allows parents the freedom to choose their child's school – public, private, or homeschool.

Goudy: Strongly agree. 

iVoterGuide: Please list in order the following priorities in relation to the role of a K-12 public school (omitting any that do not apply): American History, Art & Music, Civics, Critical Race Theory, Foreign Language, Gender Identity, Information Technology, Language Arts, Mathematics, Personal Finances, Physical Fitness, Political Activism, Science, Sexuality, Social Emotional Learning, Vocational Learning

Goudy: American History, Art & Music, Foreign Language, Information Technology, Language Arts, Mathematics, Personal Finances, Physical Fitness, Science, Social Emotional Learning, Vocational Learning

[Ed. Note: Goudy left out civics, which instructs students about citizenship, how government works, the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.] 

iVoterGuide: In the event of a pandemic, school districts can mandate whatever health precautions they deem necessary (including masks and vaccines) to protect students and staff.

Goudy: Disagree

iVoterGuide: Faculty who are licensed to carry and have had ongoing training should be allowed to carry guns at school in order to respond to an active shooter situation.

Goudy: Agree

[Ed. Note: Goudy spoke at length during the interview for VoxPopuli’s voting guide about the need to harden schools for student safety, bringing in more technology to scan for weapons at school entrances. He never mentioned arming classroom teachers.] 

iVoterGuide: Teachers should be required to instruct students on mandated curriculum even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.

Goudy: Disagree

iVoterGuide: Consistent discipline creates a safe and orderly environment, which is essential for student learning.

Goudy: Agree

iVoterGuide: Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman essential to the formation and sustaining of a civil and prosperous society.

Goudy: Agree 

[Ed. Note: When VoxPopuli exposed Goudy's support for anti-LGBTQ+ author Eric Metaxas, who Goudy claimed was his inspiration for his candidacy, he said, “I don’t stand for hate toward the LGTBQ community under any circumstances.” But here he is opposing gay marriage, so there’s no hate, but also no support for marriage equality granted under the 2022 bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act, which protects couples in same-sex and interracial marriages.] 

iVoterGuide: Biological males should not be allowed to participate in women's sports or occupy biological women's spaces whether it be bathrooms, locker rooms, sorority houses, women's shelters, or prison.

Goudy: Strongly Agree. This is a big part of why I ran. We have a daughter and the way things are going scares us. We want to protect girls and women in sports and in all public places.

[Ed. Note: This makes the third version of the story of what motivated Goudy to run. In our voting guide, he attributed his run to his educator parents; on a since-deleted reel on his campaign Facebook page, Goudy announced his run at a packed church event for Metaxas and said his book, Letter to the American Church, was his inspiration.]

iVoterGuide: Parents have the fundamental right to raise their child in accordance with their beliefs and values, including the right to make decisions about the child's education and healthcare.

Goudy: Strongly agree

iVoterGuide: Children have a right to reach maturity without chemical or surgical castration, which would damage their healthy bodies through surgeries and may cause a life-long dependence on cross-sex hormones.

Goudy: Strongly agree

[Ed. Note: This is biased framing for a question about access to gender-affirming care, which is in line with the American Family Association’s anti-LGBTQ stance. Another question to ask is whether children have a right to reach maturity without severe depression and suicidal ideation, particularly since trans and nonbinary children have a higher risk of suicide than cisgender kids because of bullying and discrimination. A 2022 JAMA study of 104 trans gender and nonbinary kids ages 13 to 20 found that puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones reduced the odds of experiencing moderate to severe depressive episodes by 60 percent and thoughts of suicide by 73 percent over the next year.]

iVoterGuide: Children have the right to be protected from sexual grooming (including drag shows and explicit materials) in schools and libraries.

Goudy: Strongly agree. 

[Ed. Note: Goudy is attempting to have it both ways on book banning. He gave a more moderate answer to VoxPopuli’s voting guide, in which he explained the recent push to remove books from libraries and classrooms prevented media specialists and teachers from focusing on improving student literacy. He told VoxPopuli he opposed GOP-backed laws that penalized librarians with jail time for possessing books deemed sexually explicit in their collections.] 

iVoterGuide: Do you believe print and digital material available or presented to students should be easily accessible for public review, including those without children enrolled in school?

Goudy: Yes

iVoterGuide: Parents should have full and timely access to any and all records, including school and medical records, associated with their minor children.

Goudy: Strongly Agree

iVoterGuide: Educators should give students a thorough education in America's founding documents and cultivate American patriotism.

Goudy: Agree

[Ed. Note: “Cultivat[ing] American patriotism” in education is associated with former president Donald Trump's 1776 Commission and with promoting a sanitized version of American history that soft pedals the violence of slavery, the racial terror of the Jim Crow era, the decimation of Native American tribes, the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese interment during WWII and other American atrocities. Here in Florida, that’s translated into the Department of Education Standards for African American History suggesting that slavery provided skills benefits and that Black residents of Ocoee were responsible for the 1920 Election Day violence that eliminated the town’s Black community.

Goudy was irked that VoxPopuli pushed him for his views on teaching American history, but said that he is “proud to be an American,” and doesn't believe in overlooking the “shameful” moments of our history.]

iVoterGuide: Which should students have: equity of outcomes or equality of opportunities?

Goudy: Equal Opportunities 

iVoterGuide: I support Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

Goudy: Choose not to answer. This term gets used loosely. I think all students should feel safe and protected regardless of their ethnicity, race, ability. This term often represents more than just what the words together mean.

[Ed. Note: That’s a fairly accurate definition of DEI. According to the American Psychological Association, DEI “promotes the fair treatment and full participation of all people, especially populations that have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination because of their background, identity, disability, etc.” Diversity refers to the mix of people within an organization or community. Equity refers to apportioning resources according to need to assure good outcomes. Inclusion welcomes all regardless of difference.]

iVoterGuide: Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children, and what is the appropriate age when it should be taught?

Goudy: Parents, at the discretion of the parents. No two children are the same so I do not feel comfortable saying a specific age.

iVoterGuide: Which type of written parental consent should be obtained before students are taught courses such as Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE)? (A) Opt-In. (B) Opt-Out. (C) None.

Goudy: A 

iVoterGuide: If you support the teaching of Sex Ed, please answer the following question: Sexual education should include these topics (list all that apply and add your own, if needed) abortion methods and side effects; abstinence; consent; contraceptive methods; human anatomy/the reproductive system; physical and emotional health outcomes; sex acts and pleasures of sex; sexual orientation and gender identity; stages of pregnancy and fetal development

Goudy: Did not answer

iVoterGuide: What role should the school serve in helping a student with an unwanted or crisis pregnancy?

Goudy: Schools should be educating older students about the repercussions associated with unprotected sex, and sex in general. If people are not prepared to welcome a baby then they should not be having sex.

iVoterGuide: Abortion and gender-affirming providers, including Planned Parenthood, should be a resource for instruction or services in the school.

Goudy: Strongly Disagree

[Ed. Note: According to Orange County Public Schools, from approximately 1999 to 2020, "Planned Parenthood personnel were trained to present the OCPS-created sexual abstinence and contraceptive PowerPoints to secondary students upon the request of the classroom teachers. Planned Parenthood did not provide any other services."] 

iVoterGuide: Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.

Goudy: Choose not to answer. 

iVoterGuide: Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.

Goudy: Strongly Agree.

iVoterGuide: People should be able to vote without photo identification.

Goudy: Strongly Disagree

iVoterGuide: I voted in these primaries and general elections. 

Goudy: Did not answer

iVoterGuide: When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?

Goudy: Lean Conservative 

iVoterGuide: Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.

Goudy: I was raised Catholic, but now go to a non-denominational Church. My wife is Baptist, and we went with her Church for our family. I still occasionally attend Catholic Church.