Seeking safety and equality for LGBTQ students at religious colleges
left to right: Ray N., BYU-Provo; Danielle P., Grace University; Veronica P.B., Baylor University
At many religious colleges and universities, LGBTQ students suffer discrimination, abuse, and hardship.
The Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP) empowers queer, trans and non-binary students at more than 200 taxpayer-funded religious schools that actively discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Through civil rights litigation, documentary film, oral history, research and public policy, we work towards a world where LGBTQ students on all campuses are treated equally, with safety and respect.
Megan S., Moody Bible Institute
The Report
The LGBTQ+ Student Divide:
The State of Sexual and Gender Minority Students at Taxpayer-Funded Christian Colleges
The LGBTQ+ Student Divide: the State of Sexual and Gender Minority Students at Taxpayer-Funded Christian Colleges report reveals startling disparities in mental health outcomes for sexual and gender minority students at Christian colleges that openly discriminate against LGBTQ+ students. The report also demonstrates that 12% of students identity as LGBTQ+ and more than 20% report experiencing some level of same-sex attraction. REAP commissioned College Pulse to survey 3,000 students at these colleges and universities, most of which belong to the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), an industry group that lobbies for the right of these taxpayer-funded institutions to do harm to sexual and gender minorities in the name of religion.
The LAWSUIT
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. REAP’s 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 FILM
Exempt: On God’s Campus
Chandler H., Brigham Young University
Exempt: On God’s Campus is a documentary project focused on the tension between civil liberties and religious freedom, the evolution of sexual and gender minority inclusion in the church, how the Christian education system works, and where activism meets legal action that impacts change in America.
In production, release date not yet set.
Victoria B., Lipscomb University
Take the Pledge
We’re building a nationwide movement
to show LGBTQ students facing discrimination on religious campuses that they are not alone. Add your name now if you agree it’s time for taxpayer-funded religious colleges and universities to end discrimination against LGBTQ students.
Jake P., Baylor University