Biden’s DOJ to Defend Christian Schools in Religious Exemption Lawsuit — Too Good to be True?

Did you know that federal law exempts religious schools from the ban on treating students differently based on sex?

Title IX bars educational institutions that receive federal money from “excluding, separating, denying benefits to, or otherwise treating students differently on the basis of sex in its educational programs or activities unless expressly authorized to do so under Title IX.”

But if the law conflicts with the religious tenets of private schools controlled by a religious organization, those schools must submit a written statement to claim the exemption.

Such an exemption makes sense, in light of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise clause. But that doesn’t mean leftists in government will defend that freedom. The Biden administration, however, is defending it. (At the time of this writing.)

Christian Headlines reported that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said in court filings that it will defend the government’s religious exemption clause against the homosexual lobby’s claim that it is unconstitutional. However, the DOJ does not want a coalition of Christian schools to intervene in the lawsuit (emphasis added):

The Justice Department said the schools’ “interests and the Federal Defendants’ interests coincide and the Federal Defendants will represent those interests adequately.”

The Christian institutions and the Biden Department of Justice “share the same ‘ultimate objective,” the filing said.

The position by the Biden Justice Department surprised the Religious Exemption Accountability Project, the group that filed the original lawsuit.

They’re not the only ones surprised by the DOJ’s support for religious freedom. Religious Americans are surprised as well. But the sweeping Equality Act is still a problem for these schools. The measure would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and “gender identity” across industries and all aspects of society.

If this measure becomes law, religious Americans will be barred from citing Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) protections to defend their right to conduct business in accordance with the tenets of their faith. For example, a Christian photographer who declines to service a homosexual “wedding” could not defend himself by citing RFRA if a disgruntled party files a federal discrimination lawsuit against him. The same photographer can’t cite RFRA in his own lawsuit against the federal government to protect his rights.

Photo credit: CC BY-SA 3.0, Link