Baylor drops ban on 'homosexual acts'

Baylor University. Baylor University. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Baylor drops ban on 'homosexual acts' 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The world's largest Baptist university has dropped a ban on "homosexual acts" in its sexual conduct policy.

After years of appeals from students, alumni and others, Baylor University revised its sexual conduct policy, dropping the ban on gay sex to "state more plainly the expectations of the university," a Baylor spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"These changes were made because we didn't believe the language reflected Baylor's caring community," spokeswoman Lori Fogleman said in an email.

Baylor's old policy called "homosexual acts" a misuse of "God's gift," along with sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, incest and adultery.

Baylor, a private school that is the oldest university in Texas, has at times been slow to change with the world around it, fearing the wrath of fundamentalists. The school didn't lift a ban on dancing until the mid-1990s -- a decision that came six years after students called on Baylor leaders to change the rule so they didn't have to party at off-campus bars. The school continues to ban alcohol on campus or at university-related events.

Students have called on administrators to update the sexual conduct policy for years. In 2013, the student government passed a vote to change the policy, but then-student body President Wesley Hodges vetoed the motion. Hodges did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The school's updated policy, approved by Baylor's board in May, is far more vague than its last one. It says the university will be guided by "the biblical understanding that human sexuality is a gift from God." Sex, the policy says, "is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity."