Federal Appeals Court Urged to Limit Discrimination at Religious Schools – AGs Seek Stronger Title IX Protections
In a bid to curtail discrimination at religious schools, a group of Democratic attorneys general, led by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, called on a federal appeals court to restrict the ways in which these institutions can discriminate against students based on their sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The move comes as the attorneys general filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case Hunter v. U.S. Department of Education, focusing on exemptions granted to religious schools that receive federal funding to discriminate against students in ways that secular schools are prohibited from doing.
Title IX, the landmark 1972 law aimed at ensuring gender equality in education, mandates that all federally funded schools provide educational programs and activities that are free from discrimination, harassment, and sexual violence. Although the law has always included a limited exemption for religious schools, the attorneys general argue that a rule implemented during the Trump administration, which eliminated the requirement for schools to declare their religious exemptions in writing, has made it challenging for students to determine whether their institution will adhere to Title IX.
According to Rosenblum, During the Trump administration, his Department of Education gutted protections for women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and other groups of students that had been in place for four decades. Title IX needs to be strengthened, not systematically weakened. Students deserve to know in advance whether their academic institutions will protect their rights or undermine them.
The case in question involves a class-action lawsuit filed by forty current and former LGBTQ+ students in 2021, seeking to completely eliminate religious exemptions. The suit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in January but is now being appealed.
Joining Rosenblum in the brief urging the court to overturn the Trump administration’s rule are attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
This appeal raises important questions regarding the balance between religious freedom and protecting students from discrimination. With the case now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the outcome is eagerly awaited by advocates for LGBTQ+ rights and religious freedom alike.
