Franklin Graham has come out swinging against the University of Iowa's decision to revoke the operating license of a student Christian group because of its rule requiring leaders to affirm a statement of faith upholding biblical standards.

The group, Business Leaders in Christ, not only lost its charter and its funding, the university also banned the group from meeting on campus because it denied a leadership position to an openly homosexual student who refused to take the pledge. The group has filed a religious discrimination lawsuit against the university.

"Christians who take a stand face some tough battles," Graham said in a Facebook post. "A Christian student group called Business Leaders in Christ at the University of Iowa lost their license to operate as well as their activity fee funding – they can't even reserve campus meeting space! All because the group denied a leadership position to a gay student and he filed a complaint. The school said they were discriminating. The group said that anyone can become a member, but leaders must affirm a statement of faith that upholds God's standards, and the Bible says that homosexuality is sin. I'm proud of these courageous young people for being faithful to Biblical truth. Pray for them as they have challenged the school's religious discrimination with legal action."

In the lawsuit, the group says it "cannot and will not ask leaders who do not share its beliefs to lead members in prayer or to convey those beliefs."

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The university prohibits any discrimination based on sexual orientation and accused the BLinC of violating the school's Human Rights Policy and the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

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The group, founded in 2015, was meeting weekly for Bible study and focused on service projects and teaching students "how to continually keep Christ first in the fast-paced business world."

Since the loss of license to operate, the group is no longer able to reserve campus meeting space, attend student recruitment fairs or access funds from student-activity fees.

The controversy between the Christian students and the university dates back to last February when Marcus Miller, a now-former student-member of the group, filed a complaint to the faculty after being rejected to serve as the group's vice president – because he was gay.

The group said the request was denied because Miller rejected the Christian beliefs and would not follow them, adding that all leaders in the group must affirm a statement of faith stating that they "embrace, not reject, their God-given sex" and agree that marriage can be only between a man and a woman.

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"Every other sexual relationship beyond this is outside of God's design and is not in keeping with God's original plan for humanity," the statement of faith says.

"Every organization to exist has to be able to select leaders who embrace its mission," the group's attorney, Eric Baxter with the nonprofit law firm Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, said. "You would never ask an environmental group to have a climate denier as their leader. It's the same thing here."



