Elizabeth Hunter, et al. v. U.S. Department of Education
Religious exemptions to civil rights statutes come at a price. The price is paid by the young and vulnerable who find themselves at the mercy of religiously affiliated, taxpayer-funded social service and educational institutions that often turn them away or force them into the closet. This historic lawsuit asserts the constitutional and basic human rights of LGBTQ+ students, seeking to end the sexual, physical and psychological abuses perpetrated under the religious exemption to Title IX at thousands of federally-funded schools, colleges and universities across America.
The Constitution guarantees equal rights for all Americans, holding space for religious belief and practice, while ensuring that religion does not serve as a government-funded vehicle to harm racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, religious or other minorities. Government action that ignores this central principal, including the religious exemption to Title IX, is unconstitutional and must be remedied immediately.
Timeline
January 2022
The federal government opens civil rights investigations into complaints filed by plaintiffs Kalie Hargrove against Lincoln Christian University and Gary Campbell against Clarks Summit University.
November 4-8, 2021
The Court holds a three-day evidentiary hearing and listens to witnesses for the plaintiffs, defendants, intervenors. Several student plaintiffs testified, including Alex Duron, Veronica Bonifacio Penales, Audrey Wojnarowisch, Faith Elizabeth Hunter, and Kalie Hargrove. Expert witnesses testified for plaintiffs as well, including Dr. Ilan Meyer, Dr. Joshua Wolff, and Dr. Jonathan Coley.
November 2021
The Attorneys General of 18 States and the District of Columbia file a brief in support of the student plaintiffs. The states include Oregon, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.
September 2021
The Attorneys General of 14 States file a brief in support of allowing the government to continue discriminating with taxpayer money. The states include Montana, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah.
June - August 2021
Plaintiffs file 30+ Title IX complaints with the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, requesting federal investigations into sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression discrimination.
June 9, 2021
A surprising court filing by the Department of Justice said the DOJ would “vigorously” defend the religious colleges and universities named in our lawsuit, claiming that they share the same goal. Shortly after REAP and our plaintiffs expressed disappointment, the DOJ amended the filing to remove the more extreme language and emphasized that the religious exemptions challenged by our lawsuit are now under consideration by the U.S. Department of Education
June 7 - 11, 2021
Eight REAP plaintiffs shared their stories of discrimination with the U.S. Department of Education as a part of a virtual public hearing on Title IX protections. The plaintiffs who testified included Nathan Brittsan, Elizabeth Hunter, Rachel Moulton, Danielle Powell, Lucas Wilson and Audrey Wojnarowisch. In addition, REAP supporters from across the country sent more than 500 letters to the DoED, urging the Department to protect LGBTQ students at religious colleges.
June 7, 2021
REAP files an amended complaint in our lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, adding seven new plaintiffs to our case and new constitutional claims.
