The College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri, wants the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its case against the administration of President Joe Biden after government agencies threatened the school for keeping male and female bathrooms and shower rooms separate.
“College of the Ozarks should be free to follow the religious tradition on which it was founded. The government can’t strip a private, faith-based institution of its constitutionally protected freedoms because it disagrees with its views about marriage and sexuality,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch said in a press release Monday. “If the 8th Circuit decision stands, College of the Ozarks could be forced to choose between violating its religious beliefs or risking intrusive federal investigations and significant enforcement penalties. We hope the Supreme Court will take this case to halt the government’s inappropriate order targeting religious institutions and to respect the privacy, dignity, and safety of female students.”
The Christian school sued the Biden administration in 2021 after he used an executive order to change a Housing and Urban Development anti-discrimination rule to force colleges and universities to open girls’ dorms to male students, and forcing the school to place males with females as roommates, the organization said.
The rule change would also allow biological male students who claim a different gender or sexual orientation to use communal bathrooms and showers with biological females.
According to the organization, the order, issued to all federal agencies, requires them to redefine sex discrimination in all federal statutes to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
In fall 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit denied the college’s appeal of a lower court ruling in June 2021, dismissing the lawsuit by saying the school lacked standing in the case.
In response the school appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court Monday, according to the organization.
“The [HUD] Directive forces the College to choose immediately between three injuries: (1) obey the government and abandon the College’s religious policies and speech; (2) refuse the government and risk crippling investigations and penalties; or (3) cease providing student housing,” the school’s petition to the high court said.
The new regulations would require the college to totally revamp its housing policies for 1.300 students and “could jeopardize the College’s ability to function, cause emotional harm to students who rely on the College’s housing policies, and dissuade Christian students from attending the College.”
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