Three private Christian colleges will soon be able to discriminate against transgender students solely because they're transgender [via The Huffington Post. The schools were granted an exception to an anti-discrimination law by the U.S. Department of Education, even though they all get federal funding. One of the schools also won the right to discriminate against unwed mothers.

Title IX says that colleges that receive government funds can't discriminate against transgender students, or anyone, for that matter. But because they're run by religious organizations, Christian universities Spring Arbor, Simpson, and George Fox can now punish anyone who breaks their guidelines against same-sex relationships and premarital sex. The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network is not protesting the law, but does believe its definitions of religious rights are too broad and could be abused.

So should these schools that seek exemption from Title IX be given federal money, even though they can discriminate against whomever they like? Or would that be religious discrimination on the part of the government?

The GLSEN is more worried about larger schools with religious traditions abusing the exemption, as opposed to a handful of smaller schools that can be easily ignored. As Professor Kristine E. Newhall told The Huffington Post, "This is where we're worried about a slippery slope. So many private schools have religious traditions. Most schools founded before 1900 have some kind of religious tradition. But how does that affect a school like Fordham University, a Jesuit school that's not really controlled by the Jesuits?"

Fordham is based in socially liberal New York City, where LGBT discrimination would surely not go unnoticed.

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Cosmo Frank I am a human male that enjoys consuming meals consisting of all five food groups and fulfilling every level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

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