Newman Society, Colleges Urge Supreme Court to Hear ‘Transgender Bathroom Case’

Leading up to a possible landmark Supreme Court case regarding “transgender” policies and religious freedom, The Cardinal Newman Society and several courageous Catholic colleges this week filed a friend of the court brief urging the Court to hear the appeal of the Gloucester County, Va., school board in defense of men’s and women’s restrooms.

The amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday was authored by expert attorneys of the First Liberty Institute, a nonprofit law firm in Plano, Texas, dedicated to preserving religious freedom. The brief is joined by The Cardinal Newman Society and several faithful Catholic colleges recommended in The Newman Guide, including John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, Calif.; Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif.; The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, N.H.; Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyo.; and the Ignatius Angelicum Liberal Studies Program.

Also joining the brief are the National Catholic Bioethics Center and Dr. Byron Johnson, Baylor University’s Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences and founding director of the Institute for Studies of Religion.

Although the case revolves around the secular Gloucester County Public Schools in southeastern Virginia, it touches upon serious administrative and constitutional issues that are of deep concern to religious educators. “Reading ‘sex’ to include gender identity raises significant constitutional concerns when applied to religious persons, religious organizations or religious colleges that receive Title IX funds,” the brief argues.

Commenting on the case, Cardinal Newman Society President Patrick Reilly warned that “the government’s overreach on this issue threatens religious freedom and imposes practices that violate our Catholic beliefs.”

“The Department of Education is improperly subverting established law to advance a dangerous ideology that contradicts the original purpose of Title IX,” Reilly said. “Instead of protecting women, the Obama administration wants to force both secular and religious schools to violate women’s privacy, compromise their safety and deny the God-given sexuality of both males and females.”

The Gloucester County School Board was sued in June 2015 by a biologically female student who was denied use of a school’s male restroom facilities. A federal district court upheld the school board’s policy on privacy concerns. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled against the school board in April, citing a private letter from a Department of Education official to an attorney inquiring about the Gloucester school board policy. The letter confirmed the Obama administration’s reinterpretation of “sex” in Title IX to protect “gender identity.”

The Supreme Court put a temporary hold on the 4th Circuit’s decision until the justices could decide to hear the case. The school board petitioned the Court in August to take the case and resolve “once and for all the current nationwide controversy generated by” government directives to treat students based on gender identity rather than biological sex. The petition seeks a reversal of the 4th Circuit ruling.

Although Title IX was intended to protect women from discrimination, especially with regard to ensuring athletic opportunities for women at U.S. colleges, the Obama administration is now using the law to demand gender identity confusion and dismantle education policies that are naturally determined by a person’s biological sex. The reinterpretation affects privacy in locker rooms, bathrooms and student residences, and it undermines the progress under Title IX by allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports.

It’s clear that when Title IX was passed by Congress in 1972, references to sex discrimination referred only to biological sex and not gender identity. Congress has never amended Title IX to include gender identity protection, but that hasn’t stopped the Obama administration from issuing threats to schools that refuse to comply with its interpretation of the law.

By failing to follow proper lawmaking procedures, the government deprived concerned parties of the ability to “speak to government officials and reach their fellow citizens through public hearings on this matter, and help regulators think through the consequences of such a policy,” especially concerning religious freedom, argues the brief from the Newman Society, colleges and other parties.

The administration’s reinterpretation of Title IX in 2014 has led to national campaigns by LGBT activist groups targeting faith-based educational institutions as “bigoted” for requesting religious exemptions to the law. Only a handful of Catholic colleges that receive federal funds requested the exemptions. They explained in letters to the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights why being forced to violate Church teachings regarding human sexuality would compromise the religious mission of their institutions.

Following the Obama administration’s lead, lawmakers in California proposed discriminatory legislation targeting the religious freedom of Catholic and other faith-based colleges in the state. The Newman Society joined in a multi-faith statement in August opposing the bill, which led to significant amendments.

With conflicting court decisions and uncertainty about the law across the country, the Supreme Court will need to address the conflict sooner or later. The Newman Society’s Reilly hopes that it’s soon, in the Gloucester case.

“The legal threats and harassment of Catholic educational institutions are a direct result of the federal government’s misguided interpretation of Title IX and enforcement efforts,” Reilly said. “If the Court decides to review the Gloucester case, hopefully that will be the first step in reversing this dangerous social experiment and defending the First Amendment.”

“Regardless, no Catholic college or school should implement policies embracing gender ideology, because it contradicts Church teaching. Instead, we have recommended human sexuality policies that help protect schools’ Catholic identity and support their mission to form students in Christ.”

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