College of the Ozarks, a Christian liberal arts school in Missouri, filed a suit against the Biden administration. The lawsuit seeks to challenge the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule which, if followed, would force Christian universities colleges to act against their beliefs.

As it stands, the U.S. HUD requires entities included in the Fair Housing Act to not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identification. This is part of the progressive plan to expand civil rights laws and court precedents to include gender identity. While Christians should not discriminate against so called ‘race’ (There is really only one race – human), Christians will be forced to violate beliefs about the uniqueness of males and females if the Biden administration and the Left get what they want. Biological men who believe they are women would be entitled to use biological women’s facilities including dorms and shared showers.

In Biden’s slew of initial executive orders, he issued “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.” In this executive order, Biden puts forth the Leftist idea of gender attempting to superimpose the new definition of ‘sex’ onto past laws. While ‘sex’ traditionally has been synonymous with gender with an emphasis on biology instead of (but not opposed to) social roles and self-concept, the new redefinition expands ‘sex’ to include sexual orientation and self-gender identification (despite biological evidence to the contrary). The HUD issued the directive being challenged to comply with Biden’s order. The College of the Ozarks proceeded to file suit in April.

The college is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom. The ADF released a common-sense statement regarding the case:

"The government cannot and should not force schools to open girls' dorms to males based on its politically motivated and inappropriate redefinition of 'sex.' Women shouldn't be forced to share private spaces — including showers and dorm rooms — with males, and religious schools shouldn't be punished simply because of their beliefs about marriage and biological sex. Government overreach by the Biden administration continues to victimize women, girls, and people of faith by gutting their legal protections, and it must be stopped."

The college sought an injunction which would protect the school while court case is decided. A federal judge, Roseann Ketchmark, denied the request on May 19th. College of the Ozarks president, Jerry Davis, expressed sadness regarding the judge’s decision. Nonetheless, he said the school is committed to fight for religious liberty and to protect its students from harmful gender theory.

"For more than 100 years, College of the Ozarks has provided a distinctly Christian education to students with financial need. We will not abandon our mission. The fight to protect our religious freedom has just begun."

May Christians in America rally behind and pray for the College of the Ozarks and its leadership as they take a stand amidst the onslaught of ant-Christian policies.  

Douglas Phillips is a native Texan, having been born and raised in the Lone Star State. He writes on political philosophy and current events.