The exemption dates back nearly half a century ago and allows faith-based organizations to practice their right of adhering to sincerely held beliefs concerning sexuality, but with the President Joe Biden and Democrats having clearly stating their belief that the LGBT community is a protected class, legal action has been taken to force schools to defy their faith’s teaching on human sexuality on campus.
“Under current federal rules, religious institutions are exempt from Title IX – a 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities,” Christian Headlines explained. “The Biden administration interprets Title IX as also banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Movement to usurp religious morality with LGBT doctrine
A movement to do away with adherence to Christian and other faith-based principles in religious education institutions was launched in March – just two months after the Biden administration took control of the White House – with LGBT activists looking to further spread their agenda and lifestyle on campuses.
Believing that the Justice Department under the pro-LGBT Biden administration would grant them a favorable outcome, a coalition of 33 students from the LGBT community attending Christian and religious schools sued the Department of Education in federal court arguing that the Title IX religious exemption clause is unconstitutional because it allows “discrimination” against what they consider a protected class.
Biden’s DOJ supporting religious freedom over “LGBT rights?”
Even though Biden has unapologetically promoted the LGBT agenda, his Justice Department split from its allegiance in the matter and stated in a court filing that its interests “coincide” with Christian institutions seeking to preserve an environment conducive to their faith.
Corban University, Phoenix Seminary and William Jessup University – along with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) – are among the institutions that have asked the court to intervene in the lawsuit to defend the religious exemption, arguing the Biden administration fails to accurately represent their interests with its track record of promoting so-called “LGBTQ rights.”
Consequently, a 12-page court filing penned by the Biden Justice Department was filed last week imploring the court to reject the schools’ request to intervene in the case.
“[The Christian schools’] interests and the Federal Defendants’ interests coincide, and the Federal Defendants will represent those interests adequately,” the Biden DOJ claimed in its filing. “The Christian institutions and the Biden Justice Department] share the same ‘ultimate objective.’”
The director of the Religious Exemption Accountability Project, Paul Carlos Southwick – whose group filed the original lawsuit against the universities – insisted that the Biden DOJ’s stand for the Christian colleges’ use of the religious exemption is siding with “hate.”
“What this means is that the government is now aligning itself with anti-LGBTQ hate in order to vigorously defend an exemption that everyone knows causes severe harm to LGBTQ students using taxpayer money,” Southwick told The Washington Post. “It will make our case harder if the federal government plans to vigorously defend it like they have indicated.”
On the opposing side of the issue, the three universities argue that declaring the Title IX religious exemption unconstitutional would send students a message that contradicts their faith and discourages them from living and honoring a Christian lifestyle.
“[Altering the federal law would dramatically affect our schools, impacting what is said and taught in chapel, in the classroom and in counseling –] all of which encourage students to live consistently with biblical views on marriage and human sexuality,” the Christian universities proclaimed in their motion to intervene.
