The Justice Department said in a court filing Tuesday that it will continue to defend a federal law that allows religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a court filing this week it can “vigorously” defend an exemption to anti-LGBT discrimination laws for religious schools amid a lawsuit over funding for such institutions.
The filing Tuesday noted that the DOJ s ultimate objective is to defend the statutory exemption and its current application by the Department of Education (DOE), which is being sued by 40 LGBT students.
The students, who attend conservative religious schools, are suing the department for providing funding to colleges and universities that they say have discriminatory policies.
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The schools in the lawsuit Hunter v. Department of Education argue that they have the First Amendment right to promote their own religious beliefs on sexuality and gender.
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President Joe Biden speaks during a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma on 1 June 2021.(Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The Biden administration has been accused of “aligning itself with anti-LGBTQ hate” after it filed a legal motion claiming it shares the “same” objective as anti-LGBT+ religious schools.
A court filing Tuesday (8 June) from the justice department said it can “vigorously” defend the religious discrimination at these colleges and universities. The
Washington Post reported that this legal document also claimed the Biden administration “shares the same ultimate objective” as anti-LGBT+ religious educational institutions.
DOJ says it can defend religious exemption that allows LGBTQ discrimination in education
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The U.S. Department of Justice is opposing an attempt by Christian colleges to intervene in a lawsuit by asserting that it can defend a religious exemption that allows the schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students.
The filing points out that the government has a duty to defend federal statutes and regulations.
The plaintiffs are dozens of former and current LGBTQ students at religious colleges and universities. Their suit challenges a religious exemption as applied to sexual- and gender-minority students attending private religious colleges and universities that receive federal funding. The statutory exemption is part of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex in schools that receive federal money.