Speaking Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Vice President Mike Pence defended his wife for teaching at a school that does not allow LGBT students or students with LGBT families to enroll and refuses to employ LGBT individuals.

Pence told the audience of conservatives that “freedom of religion is under attack” in the United States. He cited as an example criticism his wife Karen Pence received for teaching art at the Immanuel Christian School in Springfield, Virginia.

“The freedom of religion is not just enshrined in the constitution, it's enshrined in the hearts of the American people,” Pence said. “But make no mistake about it, the freedom of religion is under attack in this country. Lately, it's actually become fashionable for media elites and Hollywood liberals to mock religious belief.”

“My own family recently came under attack just because my wife Karen went back to teach art to children at a Christian school. Let me say before all of you, I couldn't be more proud of my wife,” he added as the audience applauded and an emotional Karen Pence waved.

GLAAD was among the groups that criticized Pence's decision to work at the school and called on Immanuel administrators to abandon their anti-LGBT policies.

“It’s disturbing Second Lady Karen Pence would put her stamp of approval on an institution that actively targets LGBTQ students at one of the places where they should feel the safest,” Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO at GLAAD, said in a statement.

Mike Pence, a Republican, previously defended the second lady, saying in an interview that he was “deeply offended” by the criticism of his wife's decision to work at a Christian school opposed to LGBT rights.