US Court: ‘Universities must be free to act according to their religious beliefs’

Universities with a religious ethos cannot be forced to act against their beliefs by affirming LGBT ideology, a US district court has ruled.

In 2021, 40 LGBT activist students sued the United States Department of Education for allowing universities to be exempt from anti-discrimination law on “sexual orientation or gender identity” where it would force them to act against their religious beliefs.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon has now dismissed the case, highlighting a previous Supreme Court ruling upholding the right of institutions to only employ staff who adhere to their religious beliefs.

‘Huge win’

President Shirley Hoogstra of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, which participated in the case, said: “This is a huge win for religious higher education.

“Judge Aiken’s decision based on strong legal precedent reaffirms the constitutional rights of our institutions to live out their deeply and sincerely held religious beliefs, both in policy and in practice.”

The Court noted that after spending “hundreds of hours” reviewing the LGBT activists’ accusations detailing the treatment they claimed to have experienced at their religious schools “based on their sexual orientation and gender identity”, this did not change the outcome of the case.

a huge win for religious higher education

Staff

In 2020, the US Supreme Court ruled that religious schools can continue to make staffing decisions on faith grounds.

The case was brought by two Roman Catholic schools in California and Justices Thomas and Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion that the ruling preserved a “religious group’s right to shape its own faith and mission through its appointments”.