Worst List: The Absolute Worst, Most Unsafe Campuses for LGBTQ+ Youth

Abilene Christian University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and most recently, implemented an aggressive, discriminatory ban on same-sex relationships for student employees (including same-sex dating) that has created an inhospitable, harmful climate.

As stated on the campus website, those student workers “asked to exemplify and support the university’s mission” — will be barred from dating people of the same sex, similar to how faculty and staff have been for years.

Campus History 

• April 2011 - Abilene Christian University's Vice President of Student Life refuses to allow the formation of a Gay-Straight-Alliance, states, "We are not going to embrace any advocacy for gay identity"
• March 2018 - Abilene Christian University bans same-sex relationships for some student employees
• March 2018 - Abilene Christian Alumni Fight Back
• April 2018 - New Abilene Christian University policy discriminates against LGBT students
• March 2019 - Abilene Christian University history professor argues that homosexuals should be excluded from the Boy Scouts of America, claims that homosexuality is "sexual perversion"
• 2021 - Abilene Christian University posts convoluted resolution about conflicting Christian values, seemingly to appease individuals and improve public perception, without expressing any responsibility for safety nor commitment to further inclusive campus efforts for LGBTQ people.

American Indian College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• October 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• 2017 – Student Handbook states that: “The College believes that God created mankind in His image, both male and female (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4-5). We further believe that God established an individual’s gender at birth. Any advocacy, expressions of sentiment or practice otherwise violate are out of harmony with the religious convictions of SAGU AIC. Thus transgenderism is disapproved. The same Christian standard applies to all administration, faculty, staff, and students.”
• 2022 – Follows the Assemblies of God Position Paper on "Homosexuality, Marriage, and Sexual Identity" which states that:
  • The biblical writers make it clear that practicing homosexuals, along with sexually immoral heterosexuals and all other unrepentant sinners, will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9–10)
  • The Fellowship supports the dignity of individual persons affirming their biological sex and discouraging any and all attempts to physically change, alter, or disagree with their predominant biological sex—including but not limited to elective sex-reassignment, transvestite, transgender, or nonbinary “genderqueer” acts or conduct. (Genesis 1:26–28; Romans 1:26–32; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11).

Anderson University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• January 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• February 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• August 2015 – Why same-sex ruling has SC’s religious-based schools fearing loss of tax exemption
• 2019 – Some SC colleges exempt from anti-discrimination law, leaving LGBTQ students vulnerable
• 2021-2022 – Student Handbook states that: "We believe, that God, in his image, created humanity as male and female (Genesis 1:27) and that Jesus affirmed this truth (Matthew 19:4, Mark 10:6). On the basis of biblical teaching and together with the vast majority of Christians throughout the ages, we affirm that marriage between one man and one woman is the only proper context for sexual intimacy and that abstinence should be observed in singleness."
• June 2022 – A professor was 'fired for being queer,' Anderson University defends 'traditional view' , Anderson U. clarifies stance after teacher loses job; LGBTQ activists demand change ,

Andrews University has qualified for the Worst List because it has an extensive and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, including opposing student advocacy for LGBTQ homeless youth, along with banning same-sex relationships and official LGBTQ student groups.

Campus History

• March 2015 – Andrews University LGBT Bake Sale Dustup Reveals Adventism’s Issues With Homosexuality
• March 2015 – My school won’t let us sell cupcakes for homeless LGBT youth
• October 2015 – Adventist Seminary Has Trouble Getting Facts Straight in Homosexuality Statement
• August 2016 - Two Michigan colleges recognized among country's worst for LGBT students
• September 2016 - 2 local colleges rank in 'Worst Campuses for LGBTQ' list
• January 2021 - Andrews University purports inclusion in A Seventh-day Adventist Framework for Relating to Sexual Orientation Differences on the Campus of Andrews University for LGBTQ students.  The framework does not address discriminatory acts and treatment of transgender students as well as further servers to reiterate discriminatory treatment by not allowing LGBTQ students to live holistically and authentically their full Christian identities. It is apparent this webpage Haven: Care for our LGBT+ Students on the official campus website is intended to pacify and diffuse any LGBTQ concerns and improve public perception of the campus.  Unfortunately the webpage serves to only disguise negative harms and illustrate how the campus fails to comprehend LGBTQ well-being, mental health, and safety.

Appalachian Bible College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• February 2016 – ABC President Supports Religious Exemption Bill
• June 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2021 - Appalachian Bible College "forbids homosexuality" and sets dangerous, unsafe anti-LGBTQ policies and procedures in rules handbook titled The Servants Staff: Helping Students Nurture Godly Character.

Arizona Christian University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• 2019 - Arizona Christian University Catalog 2019-2021 states: "We believe any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual conduct, bestiality, incest, or use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God." The catalog expresses harmful religion-based bigotry and furthers demonization of LGBTQ people.

Arlington Baptist University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• December 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• May 2016 – Dept. of Education requests further information
• August 2016 - 9 Texas colleges rank among the 'absolute worst' for LGBT students, gay rights group says
• August 2016 - The Nine Most Anti-LGBT Colleges in Texas
• February 2018 - Title IX exemption granted
• February 2018 - Title IX exemption response from Dept. of Education under Trump Administration now stating that the letter from May 2016 requesting further information (letter from highest ranking official stating Title IX conflicts with religious tenets) is not needed for an institution in advance of claiming a religious exemption. 

This is in sharp contrast to the written letters issued from the Dept. of Education under the Obama Administration requesting additional information prior to receiving a Title IX exemption, as the letter states:  Primarily, the written "request'' for exemption from an institution is a request for assurance from OCR of exemptions to certain sections of the regulation. Religious institutions that have neither sought nor received prior written acknowledgement from OCR may still invoke their exemption after OCR receives a Title IX complaint. If, however. the College would like written acknowledgement from OCR of its exempt status, the College may submit a statement from its highest-ranking official that identifies the provisions of Title IX that conflict with the specific tenets of the controlling religious organization.

• October 2021 - Faculty Handbook states that:
  • "We believe that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. (Gen 1:26-27.) Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. We believe that the term “marriage” has only one meaning: the uniting of one male as born at birth and one female as born at birth in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. (Gen 2:18-25.) We believe that God intends sexual intimacy to occur only between a man and a woman who are married to each other. (1 Cor 6:18; 7:2-5; Heb 13:4.)"
  • "We believe that any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. (Matt 15:18-20; 1 Cor 6:9-10.) We believe that in order to preserve the function and integrity of Arlington Baptist University as an institution proclaiming biblical truth, and in order to provide a biblical role model to the college’s students and its community, it is imperative that all persons employed by Arlington Baptist University in any capacity, or who serve as volunteers, agree to and abide by this Statement on Marriage, Gender, and Sexuality. (Matt 5:16; Phil 2:14-16; 1 Thess 5:22.)"
• February 2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "The Bible also forbids such activities as gossip, gluttony, drunkenness, stealing, dishonesty, murder, profanity, occult involvement, adultery, premarital sex, and homosexual behavior."
  • "Students are not allowed to maintain same-sex romantic relationships."

Asbury Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2012 – North Georgia pastor responds to Asbury Seminary president: An UnTenable Argument
• June 2014 - What We Believe, from Asbury University
• May 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• August 2017 - Asbury employee signs Nashville Statement
• July 2019 - Group of 70 current and former students of Asbury Theological Seminary sign onto open letter opposing the seminary for its support of the United Methodist Church’s Traditional Plan at General Conference in 2019, citing the role of the campus and the tremendous harm committed against LGBTQ+ people in the United Methodist Church.

Asbury University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• October 2012 - LGBT on a Christian Campus
• March 2013 – What does Asbury owe its LGBT students? First, accept that they exist
• July 2014 – An Open Letter to Asbury University, or, how I was a victim of workplace discrimination two years too early 
• January 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2016 – Special Report: Have Evangelical Colleges Succumbed To “Theological Paranoia”?
• April 2016 - Kentucky colleges seek exemption from feds on transgender bias
• June 2016 – The twisted logic of evangelical colleges welcoming straight atheists and rejecting gay Christians
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• September 2016 - Asbury should reevaluate their reasoning
• November 2016 - Some LGBT students fear the Title IX exemption
• March 2020 - Column in the Lexington Herald-Leader shares how campus refused to renew the contracts of two professors who are “LGBTQ affirming.” Two Asbury professors named in the column are Jill Campbell, assistant professor of music education and voice, and Jon Roller, professor and founder of the school’s Worship Arts program.
• October 2022 - Students walk out of classes as part of national LGBTQ protest
• June 2023 - Not all sunshine and rainbows’

Azusa Pacific University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds. In addition, Azusa Pacific University worked to dismantle SB 1146, a California bill designed to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination at their Christian college or university.

APU Haven, the university’s current unofficial LGBTQ student group, can be reached via Facebook.

Campus History

• April 2006 – “The Table is Open,” But Are All Welcome?
• September 2013 – H. Adam Ackley, Transgender Theology Professor, Asked To Leave California’s Azusa Pacific University
• October 2013 - Students Rally Behind Ousted Trans Professor at Calif. Christian College
• September 2014 – Gay US college student gets note on first week of semester: ‘Faggots don’t belong here’
• July 2015 - Gay Marriage and the Future of Evangelical Colleges
• August 2015 – Some top Christian universities remain firm in wake of SCOTUS same-sex ruling
• April 2016 - When religion and the LGBT collegiate athlete collide
• June 2016 – Faith-based colleges say anti-discrimination bill would infringe on their religious freedom
• September 2016 – How Christian Schools Should have Spent $350K
• November 2016 - Able to breathe: This gay college football player was stifled by masculinity and Christianity
• April 2017 - This gay baseball player just came out on live TV
• July 2017 - Supervisor Sues Major Christian University Over Cover-Up of Antigay Violence
• September 2018 - Human Sexuality Statement updated and available online
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• November 2022 - Title IX exemption request filed
• November 2022 - Title IX exemption granted

Baptist Missionary Association Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• June 2017 - Title IX exemption requested
• January 2018 - Title IX exemption granted
• April 2021 - Record of the 2021 BMA National Meeting recommends "Ten Summary Statements of Moral Action" and #5 is the following: "We are committed to the civil rights of citizens being guaranteed, but believe that the creation of gay rights is a threat to our nation’s family life and extends civil rights beyond what is appropriate."

Baylor University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital status. Baylor is the first known university to have requested and received a Title IX exemption that expressly allows sexual harassment of LGBTQ+ students. In addition, Baylor University has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and is cited as one of the campuses in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education for abuses to LGBTQ+ students over the years.

Campus History

• May 2014 - Basketball, Jesus and young lesbian identity in Waco, Texas
• March 2021 - LGBTQ students at Christian colleges face more harassment, survey find
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• May 2023 - Title IX exemption request filed
• June 2023 - Title IX exemption granted

Belmont Abbey College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Belmont Abbey College currently has no known LGBTQ student group.

Campus History

• January 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• February 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• December 2015 – Belmont Abbey College Misrepresents Church Teaching to Discriminate Against Trans Students
• December 2015 - LGBT group: Shame on Belmont Abbey College
• August 2016 - Eight Carolinas colleges included on ‘Shame List’ for LGBT discrimination
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• January 2021 -  Being true to yourself: Alums reflect on sexuality in college life, coping and finding a niche

Benedictine College has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History 

• October 2014 - Benedictine College forces gay athlete Jallen Messersmith to remove rainbow flag
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• 2022 - Student Handbook states that: "The College affirms that sexual relationships are designed by God to be expressed solely within a marriage between husband and wife."

Bethany Global University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2017 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that: "BGU students are committed to live by the biblical standard of sexual purity ordained by God and affirmed by Jesus Christ, which excludes all sexual activity outside of the marriage covenant between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5; Ephesians 5:31; Hebrews 13:4)"
• 2022 - Statement of Faith states that: "BGU holds that there are two genders created by God, male and female, which are assigned at birth and not a matter of free will. Students are expected to use the dorms and bathrooms of their gender. In addition, BGU holds to the biblical definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman and holds students to only pursue relationships with the opposite sex."

Bethel University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• January 2020 – Title IX exemption request filed
• June 2020 - Title IX exemption granted

Bethel University (formerly Bethel College) has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• May 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• December 2015 – Bethel College granted waiver from protections for GLBT students, employees
• May 2018 - Recent graduate claims LGBTQ discrimination and states he lost his on-campus job because he is gay

Bethel University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a demonstrated past history and track record of anti-LGBTQ actions, programs and practices.

Campus History

• May 2015 - What It’s Like to Be Gay at a Christian College—Where It’s a Reportable Offense - “There’s no discussion,” Sandberg said. “It’s either ‘you’re a sinner’ … or ‘let’s get close so we can fix you.’ It’s a really toxic environment.”  Along with eating disorders, suicidal behavior, and alcohol use, resident assistants must immediately report homosexuality to their hall directors and possibly Student Life deans.
• 2021 - Student Handbook in sharing disciplinary standards of conduct states that: "Scripture specifically forbids drunkenness, adultery, and fornication (defined as cohabitation and/or premarital sexual relations of both a heterosexual and/or a homosexual nature). Bethel offers help in clarifying issues of sexual identity and moral behavior for students having concerns in this area."

Bethlehem College and Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• August 2017 - BCS founder signs Nashville Statement
• 2019 -There's no such thing as 'gay marriage,' says John Piper: 'It's dishonorable and shameful'
• 2020 - YouTube restores John Piper’s ‘Coronavirus and Christ’ audiobook after ‘violation’ ban
• June 2022 - Bethlehem College: Petition calls for independent investigation into alleged 'abuse' at the school

Biola University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds. Biola University has also qualified for the Worst List because it worked to dismantle SB 1146, a California bill designed to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination at their Christian college or university.

Campus History

• May 2012 – Biola University’s ‘Queer Underground’ Emerges, Rattling Evangelical Faculty And Student Body, Gay Voices at a Christian University
• April 2013 – Biola University Professor Equates Being LGBTQ to Being Racist, Students Demand Apology
• June 2013 - Gay students speaking out at Christian schools
• November 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2014 – Dept. of Education requests further information regarding exemption request
• April 2015 – LGBT students to Biola University: ‘Tell Our Stories Too’
• December 2015 – A Christian University Toughens Its Anti-LGBT Stances,
• January 2016 – When Christian Schools Make Campuses Less Safe
• February 2016 – Students Picket Christian Colleges Seeking ‘Right to Discriminate’
• February 2016 – How Christian Universities Are Becoming a Battleground for LGBT Rights , Some colleges exclude LGBTQ students using religion, but students are fighting back
• May 2016 – Biolans’ Equal Ground calls on President of Biola University to immediately withdraw Title IX religious exemption 
• June 2016 – Accustomed to Privilege: A Response to Biola University’s SB 1146 Opposition , California bill takes aim at religious colleges that seek to bar transgender students
• June 2016 – Fear-Mongering From Religious University over LGBT Protections
• June 2016 – Faith-based colleges say anti-discrimination bill would infringe on their religious freedom
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• September 2016 – How Christian Schools Should have Spent $350K
• March 2017 - We first battled over LGBT and religious rights. Here’s how we became unlikely friends.
• June 2017 - LGBT advocates at private colleges vow to stand strong after DeVos wavers on protections
• August 2017 - Biola employees sign Nashville Statement
• August 2017 - Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing: How LGBTQ Oppression Masquerades As ‘Love’ On Non-Affirming Christian Campuses
• August 2018 - Under Trump and DeVos, Trans Students Face ‘Spiritual Violence’ at Religious Schools
• October 2018 - Ban on same-sex couples roils small Christian college: ‘This isn’t something sinful, God’
• April 2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "When joining the Biola community, students agree to refrain from engaging in behaviors and romantic relationships that are inconsistent with Biola’s position on marriage."
  • "The University maintains the right, with regard to admissions, enrollment, its curricular and co-curricular programs, employment, and other matters, to uphold and apply its religious beliefs related to, among other issues, marriage, sex (gender), gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexual activity."

Blue Mountain College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status while still receiving federal funds.

Blue Mountain College currently has no known LGBTQ student group.

Campus History

• August 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• October 2015 – Title IX exemption granted

Bluefield University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Bob Jones University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds. They also have an extensive and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, including expelling students who come out and banning same-sex relationships and  official LGBTQ student groups.

Campus History

• October 1992 – Warren Denning banned from campus
• September 1995 – Rich Merritt removed from alumni association
• October 1999 – Lance Weldy removed from alumni association
• April 2009 – Elena Kelly removed from alumni association
• April 2012 - S.C. Man: I Was Kicked Out of College for Watching Glee
• June 2012 Bob Jones University LGBT Alumni Organize and March in NYC LGBT Pride
• June 2012 – David Diachenko Forms LGBT Support Group at Bob Jones University, Fundamentalist Christian College
• July 2012 – Paula Bass’s story
• November 2013 – Rachel Sherwin’s story
• March 2015 – Petition seeks Bob Jones U. apology on anti-gay remarks
• April 2015 – LGBT group isn’t stopping at Bob Jones’ apology for stone-the-gays remark
• May 2015 – Anti-Gay Groups Gear Up To Fight A 30-Year-Old Supreme Court Victory Over Racism
• April 2016 – Title IX exemption request to discriminate against women filed
• June 2016 – Title IX exemption on women granted
• February 2017 - Liberty and Bob Jones universities may run afoul of Obama Title IX protections for LGBT
• April 2017 - Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017- Title IX exemption granted
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”

Boston Baptist College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• July 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2021 - Campus Statement on Human Sexuality uses unsafe, harmful anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and "declares that God’s design at Creation for sexual desire, orientation and identity is within the bounds of the marital union of one natural-born man and one natural-born women."

Brewton Parker College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• May 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2017 - Title IX exemption granted

Brigham Young University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds. In Addition, Brigham Young University has  an established and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination that endangers victims of sexual assault and has resulted in a call for it to not be included as a Big 12 school.

Campus History

• March 2011 – Mormon ‘Gay Cure’ Study Used Electric Shocks Against Homosexual Feelings
• May 2014 – The pain of being gay and Mormon at BYU
• March 2015 – Ex-BYU student settles eviction lawsuit with apartment after gay attraction dispute
• August 2015 – BYU ranked among the least LGBT-friendly campuses
• August 2016 – Will The Very Anti-Gay, Mormon-Owned Brigham Young University Be Allowed to Join The Big 12 Conference?
• August 2016 – Students: BYU Honor Code leaves LGBT victims of sexual assault vulnerable and alone
• November 2016 - LGBT BYU students explain why they chose to attend and stay
• November 2016 - LGBT students explain why they chose to leave BYU
• January 2017 - Study shows LGBT BYU students at higher risk for depression, suicide 
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• August 2021 - Former President of Brigham Young University Elder Jeffrey Holland  denounced LGBTQ+ students and suggested, in a violent turn of rhetoric, that BYU Professors needed to use their “musket fire” against LGBTQ ideology rather than directing “friendly fire” against the church.
  The Elder Holland criticized what he described as their failure to defend the anti-LBGTQ+ policies of the Church. He also denounced BYU graduate Matt Easton’s heroic act of coming out during his commencement speech as valedictorian of BYU’s political science program in 2019.
• Sept 2021 - Student Caught on Video Using Antigay Slur, Defacing Art Has Left BYU
• November 2021 - Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2022 - Title IX exemption granted
• March 2022 - LGBTQ+ allies light BYU’s ‘Y’ in colors of transgender pride flag, after school’s crackdown against protests
• August 2022 - BYU removes LGBTQ materials intended for new on-campus students, LGBTQ+ organizations respond to BYU's actions
• August 2023 - BYU officially restores honor code ban on ‘same-sex romantic behavior’

Brigham Young University-Idaho has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2015 – Conversion Therapy Event at BYU-I Axed
• November 2015 – My Life At BYU-I As a Gay Mormon
• February 2016 – Rexburg reacts to the LGBT suicides
• February 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• March 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• July 2017 - Mormon university instructor fired after Facebook post supporting LGBT rights, she says
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• March 2022 - Title IX exemption request filed
• May 2022 - Title IX exemption request granted
• November 2022 - A Chill at BYU

Brigham Young University-Hawaii has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. Brigham Young University-Hawaii also holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• March 2022 - Title IX exemption request filed
• May 2022 - Title IX exemption granted

Bryan College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• December 2014 – Little Lion Man: A Bryan College Story
• October 2015 – Christian college implements 48-hour prior review policy for student newspaper after gay marriage ruling
• February 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• October 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• 2021 - Bryan Community Life Standards expressly state: "Practices specifically forbidden in the Scriptures are not permitted. These include dishonesty, theft, vandalism, fornication, adultery, homosexual behavior, immodest dress, profanity, gossip, and drunkenness."

Cairn University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• February 2013 - Cairn University hosts "ex-gay" speaker Christopher Yuan
• November 2014 - Petition calls for US college to revoke honorary degree from anti-gay pastor
• October 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• June 2021 - Pa. Christian College Ends Program Citing Gender, Sex Guidelines
• 2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "Cairn University affirms the biblical teachings that a sexual relationship is intended only within a heterosexual marriage of husband and wife. All students are to abstain from any type of sexual activity or immoral relationship outside of the marriage of a man and a woman (Gen. 1:27; Rom. 1:27; Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Thess. 4:3-8; Heb. 13:4)."
  • "Scripture expressly forbids certain sexual behaviors, including, but not limited to: fornication, adultery, incest, and homosexual acts (Ex 20:14; Lev 18:7-23, 20:10-21; Matt 5:27-28; Rom 1:20-27; 1 Cor 6:9; Gal 5:19; Eph 4:17-19; Col 3:5)."
  • "Choice of clothing is to be consistent with the student’s assigned sex at birth."
  • "Further, housing assignments and policies are to reflect a student’s sex at birth."

California Baptist University has qualified for the Worst List because it worked to dismantle SB 1146, a California bill designed to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination at their Christian college or university.

Campus History

• April 2006 – Being Christian and Gay Aren’t at Odds, Group Says
• April 2014 – Transgender woman sues Christian university that expelled her
• July 2014 - California court rules it's okay to expel a student for being transgender
• September 2016 – How Christian Schools Should have Spent $350K
• 2021 - Faith statement The Christian and the Social Order reads that "Christians should oppose... all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography."

Carson-Newman University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• October 2010 – GLBT alumni of Carson-Newman College join forces
• May 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• December 2015 – Christian University in Tennessee Can Legally Bar LGBT Students
• December 2015 – Alumni pair ask Carson-Newman to revoke Title IX waiver
• March 2021 - 25 faith-based schools named in LGBTQ discrimination case against Department of Education
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that: "Persons who choose to become part of the Carson-Newman family are expected to embrace moral, ethical and Biblical values on and off campus. In the area of sexuality, lifestyles consistent with biblical teaching are expected. Specifically stated, sexual intimacy is to be expressed exclusively inside the marriage covenant which shall be between a man and a woman."

Catholic University of America has qualified for the Worst List because it has an extensive and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

Campus History

• December 2009 - Gay group carves out niche at Catholic University
• December 2012 - No LGBT group at Catholic U.
• June 2013 - Being gay at a Catholic University
• February 2017 - LGBTQ campus group again seeking recognition from Catholic University of America
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• December 2021 - From Students’ Perspective: Treatment of LGBTQIA+ Students at Catholic University
• February 2022 - Catholic University LGBTQ student group remains unrecognized
• March 2023 - Catholic University of America Professor Pushes Back Against ‘Conversion Therapy’ Studies

Cedarville University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a pending Title IX exemption request which acknowledges the college request to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds. Members of its staff have also signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• April 2014 - Christian College Shuts Down LGBT-Friendly Student Paper
• June 2015 - Cedarville University President condemns same-sex marriage ruling in email to faculty and staff
• July 2015 - Despite 2015 SCOTUS ruling on same-sex marriage, evangelical colleges prohibit same-sex relationships
• August 2017 - Cedarville staff, including president, sign Nashville Statement
• March 2018 - Title IX exemption request filed
• June 2018 - Dept. of Education response letter requests further information and states that a Title IX exemption is not required (as interpreted by the DOE under the Trump Administration) in advance of claiming an exemption.  Seemingly the letter discourages any campus from seeking a Title IX exemption unless there is a Title IX reported complaint.
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”

Central Christian College of the Bible has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• April 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2017 - Title IX exemption granted

Charleston Southern University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• August 2013 – Gay Christian Student Removed From Work-Study Position At South Carolina University
• August 2013 – New petition begs Charleston Southern University to protect LGBT students
• August 2014 – One year later, MTV follows up with fired gay Christian student
• December 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• February 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• 2021 - Human Sexuality statement citing their core values reads: "The promotion or practice of a homosexual lifestyle (including same-sex dating behaviors) is also contrary to the university’s core values. The promotion of transgenderism fails to uphold the university’s core values."

Charlotte Christian College and Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• June 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• August 2016 - Eight Carolinas colleges included on 'Shame List' for LGBT discrimination
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "As such, this institution regards the sex at birth as the identification of the given biological gender of every member of this institution. Therefore, any attempts to blur the demarcations between maleness and femaleness—e.g., identifying oneself as a transvestite, transsexual, or transgendered—is contrary to biblical principles. The institution views the actions or intentions of those seeking fundamental alterations of any kind from the individual’s sex identity at birth as a rejection of the biblical and theological underpinnings to which this institution is committed, and therefore grounds for expulsion and permanent barring of a current student, employee, or director, or the denial of consideration for enrollment, hiring, or service of an applicant. The same actions may be taken against any persistent or exaggerated display of cross-dressing, or other relevant manifestation of actions that are deliberately cacophonous with one’s sex at birth, or activist promoting the acceptance of such unbiblical views." 
  • "God’s design of marital intimacy becomes the foundation for our understanding of all acts of sexuality outside of a heterosexual monogamous marriage. Scripture teaches that sexual relations of any kind outside of heterosexual monogamous marriage – adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bisexual, transgender, bestiality, incest, molestation, pornography, or any attempt to change the sex of one’s birth - are inconsistent with the teaching of Scripture and Church history and therefore prohibited of those within the Christian faith." 
  • "We hold that chastity for the unmarried person is sexual purity and chastity within marriage to be sexual faithfulness, and that both are affirmed by Scripture and blessed by God. Consequently, as part of living out a consistent, biblical spirituality, one dedicated to the pursuit of Christ-likeness, all members of CCCTS are to avoid sexual intimacy outside of monogamous heterosexual marriage and to refrain from encouraging said action in others. Whatever one’s personal feelings or desires, the call of Jesus on our lives is the same: sexual purity manifest among the married as complete faithfulness and by those who are single by living a pure and unblemished life (I Thessalonians 4:3-8)."

Christendom College has qualified for the Worst List because of their history of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. Christendom College has also qualified for the Worst List because it refuses to uphold any part of Title IX reporting requirements and reportedly has chosen not to receive federal monies in order to do so. As a result, this campus does not comply with Title IX protections for any of its students, including for LGBTQ+ students.

Campus History

• June 2017 - Powerpoint Presentation links same-sex marriage and LGBTQ rights to Cultural and Moral Decline
• August 2019 - Website links to a United States Conference of Catholic Bishops “Gender theory”/“Gender ideology” – Select Teaching Resources that states that: “In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa, and in some countries of Asia, there are genuine forms of ideological colonization taking place. And one of these - I will call it clearly by its name – is [the ideology of] ‘gender’. Today children – children! – are taught in school that everyone can choose  his or her sex. Why are they teaching this? Because the books are provided by the persons and institutions that give you money. These forms of ideological colonization are also supported by influential countries. And this terrible!”
• 2020 - Why Christendom College Rejects Federal Funding

Clarks Summit University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a documented history as well as a 2018 public act of anti-LGBTQ discrimination not allowing a former student to re-enroll into the university because he is gay. Clarks Summit University also holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing them to discriminate against students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• September 2018 - Turned Away for Being Gay
• 2021- Student Handbook states that: 
  • "Students are not to engage in and maintain same-sex romantic or sexual relationships."
  • "Clothing should be appropriate for the student’s assigned sex at birth." 
  • "The university will not support persistent or conspicuous examples of cross-dressing or other actions that are deliberately discordant with the students’ assigned sex at birth and will deal with such matters within the biblical counseling and judicial processes of the institution."
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• January 2022 - Federal Title IX inquiry of anti-LGBTQ bias by Christian university
• February 2022 - Title IX exemption request filed
• April 2022 - Title IX exemption granted

Clear Creek Baptist Bible College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• February 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• March 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• 2021 -  Faith statement The Christian and the Social Order reads that "Christians should oppose... all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography."

The College of Biblical Studies has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• August 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2016 - 2018 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "All board members, administrators, faculty, staff members, students, applicants, and all volunteers must agree to, adhere to in attitudes, actions, and beliefs these principles as well as the below-outlined actions and other related acts that are prohibited in Scripture, both explicitly and in principle (Romans 12:1-2). The holy purpose of God from the very beginning was for sex and marriage to be monogamous between one man and one woman, as originally biologically created by God, united in holy matrimony for life (Malachi 2:14-16; Matthew 19:4-6; Ephesians 5:31-32)."
  • "Some sexual actions are always prohibited in the Bible including, but not limited to, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, transgender identification, bestiality/zoophilia, prostitution, rape, and sinful lust in all forms. "
  • "As a result, the Bible forbids individuals from adopting a gender identity that conflicts with the biological sex they received from birth and to affirm others who accept the sex they were biologically assigned at birth (Deuteronomy 22:5; 1 Corinthians 6:9, where use of μαλακοὶ means “effeminate” or indicating a rejection of one’s God-given, biological sex). The Bible teaches that exchanging the natural functions of the God-given sex for unnatural functions (including same-sex attraction or desiring to convert to another gender) is a result of sin (Romans 1:26-27). The Bible recognizes only two sexes — male and female — and a trust in the sovereignty of God will lead Christians to display and adopt only the sex God biologically gave them at birth (Genesis 5:2; Matthew 19:4). To do otherwise through sex reassignment, transvestite, transgender, gender-fluid, or nonbinary “genderqueer” and related acts or conduct is to question God’s providence and sovereignty."
  • "Unacceptable Conduct: The following includes, but is not limited to, conduct that is in conflict with the Scriptural Christian lifestyle that will require a student conduct review and, if necessary, imposed sanctions: 1. Scripture specifically prohibits stealing, violence, harassment (all forms), outbursts of anger, threats, lying, cheating, stealing, profane language, and occult practices. Sexual immorality is also prohibited including, but not limited to, fornication, adultery, homosexuality, transgender identification, bestiality/zoophilia, prostitution, incest rape and sinful lust in all forms (actions influenced by lust include but are not limited to pornography, pedophilia, sexting, voyeurism, and sex trafficking). These prohibitions are clearly understood to be biblical commands that are binding upon every Christian believer."
• November 2021 - Two Houston universities listed among worst campuses for LGBTQ students

College of the Ozarks has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• June 2008 - Former students share experience of homophobia at College of the Ozarks
• June 2017 - Title IX exemption requested
• January 2018 - Title IX exemption granted
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• July 2021 - No queer person should face abuse I endured at College of the Ozarks
• Sept 2021 - College of the Ozarks sues to keep harmful anti-LGBTQ housing policy
• June 2023 - Supreme Court declines appeal from Christian school fighting transgender housing

Colorado Christian University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• April 2012 – 5 Soulforce Equality Riders busted for “Bible study” at Colorado Christian University
• November 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2014 – Dept. of Education requests further information regarding exemption request
• January 2015 – CCU provides further information regarding exemption request
• April 2015 – Western Conservative Summit disinvites GOP gay group
• June 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• March 2017 - CCU’s Centennial Institute launches ‘Beauty and the Beast’ boycott over ‘gay moment’
• August 2017 - CCU president signs Nashville Statement
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• May 2022 - Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2022 - Title IX exemption granted
• November 2022 - Colorado Christian University’s Institute Fuels Anti-LGBTQ Sentiment in Colorado

Columbia International University, previously called The Southern Bible Institute and Columbia Bible College & Columbia Biblical Seminary, has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• Spring 2013 - Dean of Columbia International University College of Counseling publishes article on "Overcoming Same-Sex Attraction"
• June 2017 - Title IX exemption requested
• January 2018 - Title IX exemption granted
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Compass College of Cinematic Arts has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• October 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• May 2018 - Here's what Christian colleges have to say about LGBTQ issues

Concordia University Irvine has qualified for the Worst List because it worked to dismantle SB 1146, a California bill designed to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination at their Christian college or university.

Campus History

• August 2013 – Gays protest Exodus forum at Concordia
• June 2016 – An Important Message Regarding SB 1146 from President Krueger
• June 2016 – LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill Stirs Controversy at Religious Schools
• October 2016 – Final Thoughts on SB 1146 from CUI

Concordia University, Nebraska has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• September 2021 - Authors Rapidly Drop Out of Book Festival After Finding Host’s Anti-LGBT Policies

Corban University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion. It also has an extensive and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, including employing faculty who specialize in "unwanted same-sex attractions," along with banning same-sex relationships and official LGBTQ student groups.

Student stories can be read here.

Campus History

• April 1977 - Title IX exemption request filed
• August 1985 - Title IX exemption granted
• March 2014 - Corban hosts anti-LGBT speaker Mark Yarhouse
• July 2014 - Corban names professor specializing in "unwanted same-sex attractions" to chair of Psychology department
• March 2018 - Corban University welcomes Dr. Sprinkel who shares " “The good news isn’t that God can make you straight; the good news is that God can make you holy because of the risen Christ.” 
• April 2019 - Gay conversion therapy and Corban University
• April 2021 - Filed motion to intervene to defend their religion-based bigotry despite the abuses of LGBTQ+ students cited in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education.
• 2021 - Action Alert: Congress: Remove Corban University’s Title IX Exemption for Anti-LGBTQ Bigotry

Covenant College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• April 2007 – Four Equality Riders arrested in Georgia
• January 2014 – Covenant College censored my alumni update
• May 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• February 2016 – How Christian Universities Are Becoming A Battleground For LGBT Rights
• February 2016 – Students Call for Greater LGBT Awareness on Campus
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "As such, students are to live in accordance with the birth sex gifted them by their Creator. Actions taken toward adopting a different biological sex (Gen. 1:27), sexual immorality (I Cor. 6:18, 1 Tim 1:8-11), adultery (Exodus 20:14), homosexual practice (Romans 1:26-27), and all other sexual relations (1 Cor. 6:9-10) outside the bounds of marriage between a man and woman are inconsistent with the teaching of Scripture and will result in disciplinary follow-up by the College."
  • "Students are also required to abstain from all activities which violate biblical teachings, such as theft, drunkenness, slanderous or profane language, all forms of dishonesty including cheating, and sexual sins (such as premarital sex, adultery, homosexual behavior and the use or possession of obscene or pornographic material)."
• April 2022 - Responding to Homosexuality: Culture of Care versus Culture of Cure

Criswell College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• September 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2016 – Dept. of Education requests further information regarding exemption request
• March 2016 – Criswell provides further information regarding exemption request
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• August 2016 - 9 Texas colleges rank among the 'absolute worst' for LGBT students, gay rights group says
• 2021 - Campus student handbook describes "homosexual relations" as sexual misconduct along with "denying or rejecting one's God-given biological sex by identifying as, dressing as, and/or acting in ways other than according to one’s biological sex at birth."  The other sexual misconduct listed is "sex relations with non-humans."

Crown College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2011 – An Open Letter to Evangelical College Students
• May 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Dallas Baptist University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• September 2016 - Title IX exemption filed
• February 2018 - Title IX exemption granted

Dallas Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds. Members of its staff have also signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• August 2016 - DTS president signs letter against SB 1146
• August 2017 - DTS staff, including president, sign Nashville Statement
• November 2017 - Title IX exemption requested
• April 2018 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2021 - Marriage & Human Sexuality Policy reads: "DTS students, faculty, administration, and staff must affirm the sexual complementarity of man and woman and resist the temptations of same-sex sexual attractions and refrain from any and all same-sex sexual acts or conduct, which are evidences of the whole world groaning under sin and are outside of God’s designed order for human flourishing and His Glory."

Dordt University (formerly Dordt College) has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds. In addition, the campus has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History

• March 2007 – Equality Ride bus defaced during Dordt College stop, first stop on East Bus
• March 2007 – Dordt College issues statement of regret over incident involving gays
• December 2011 – Rick Santorum Has Tense Exchange on Gay Rights and Health Care at Dordt College
• October 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• September 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• March 2021 - President Hoekstra’s tweets on Equality Act spark critique, conversation
• May 2022 - DRISSELL DEPARTS FROM DORDT UNIVERSITY AS BOARD, CRC DISCUSS SEXUALITY

East Texas Baptist University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• February 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• May 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• May 2016 – BGCT leader underscores opposition to gay marriage, transgenderism
• August 2016 - 9 Texas colleges rank among the 'absolute worst' for LGBT students, gay rights group says
• March 2021 - 25 faith-based schools named in LGBTQ discrimination case against Department of Education

Eastern University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and is cited as one of the campuses in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education for abuses to LGBTQ+ students over the years.

Campus History

• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• November 2022 - Eastern University on hold from CCCU after dropping ban on LGBTQ faculty

Elim Bible Institute and College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• December 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017- Title IX exemption granted
• 2022 - Faith Statement states that:
  • We believe that God created mankind as two distinct sexes: male and female, and that each person affirms God’s infinite wisdom by living in alignment with their birth sex. GEN 1:26-28; MATT 19:4-5
  • We believe that sexual purity is a necessary expression for all of God’s children, and requires abstinence from adultery, fornication, incest, homosexuality, and other sexual relationships or practices forbidden by Scripture. HEB. 13:4; 1 COR. 6:18; LEV. 18:1-30; GAL. 5:19
  • We believe that marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime, and a sacred institution established by God. MATT. 19:4-6
• 2022-2023 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "EBIC believes that human sexuality is a gift of God. We choose to affirm its goodness and to exercise it within the guidelines set by God in the Scriptures. EBIC reserves the right to counsel and, in some cases, take disciplinary action against students who overstep these Scriptural guidelines. EBIC has adopted a position on sexuality that is higher than what the Affirmative Consent and Responsible Employees laws require regarding premarital sexual engagement. EBIC believes God has reserved the most intimate of sexual relationships for the marriage union between a man and a woman. It is, therefore, not only a violation of our social policy but also of God's law to engage in such behavior outside of the marriage covenant."

Emmanuel University (changed name from Emanuel College in July 2023) has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• June 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted 
• Current 2019 - Student handbook policy on Homosexual Behavior
• Current 2019 - Student handbook policy on Gender Identity
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Ensign College or LDS Business College has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. Ensign College also holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing them to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• March 2022 - Title IX exemption request filed
• May 2022 - Title IX exemption granted

Erskine College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History 

• March 2015 - Erskine College's President discusses views on the LGBT community after two volleyball players came out as gay , Gay Erskine College Athlete Speaks Out Against School's Sexuality Statement
• May 2015 - Another Christian college faces backlash for student-athlete policy on lgbtq issues
• September 2017 - Title IX exemption requested
• January 2018 - Title IX exemption granted
• October 2019 - Some SC colleges exempt from anti-discrimination law, leaving LGBTQ students vulnerable
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that: "Because of this belief, students are not allowed to identify as a gender other than the biological gender God created them to be, whether this be through dress and appearance, or through medical intervention in order to change their biological sex. As a Christian residential institution of higher learning, we will respect those whose moral views diverge from ours and seek to embody the gentle and patient love of Christ for all. We will make institutional decisions pursuant to this gender identity policy regarding housing, student admission and retention, employment hiring and retention, and other matters. Erskine College is a religious educational institution and is exempt from certain provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972."

Evangel University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2016 - Samuel's story
• March 2017 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2018 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2020 -2021 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "Additionally, for the duration of their tenure at Evangel, students pledge to abide by the following community standards: Uphold standards of sexual purity and humility: maintaining modest appearance standards; not engaging in sexual activity prior to or outside of marriage—as recognized in the biblical covenant between a man and woman, including cohabitation, same-sex sexual relationships, genital contact, intercourse, sexting (chats or video), sexually explicit dancing, pornography, etc."
  • "Gender identity: We regard sex at birth as the identification of a person’s biological sex and do not support attempts to alter one’s birth sex in favor of an opposite psychological gender. This statement is not meant to reflect those rare situations concerning congenital disorders of sex development. See also Sexuality and Gender Identity."
  • "Sexual behavior: We believe that sexual intimacy was created by God as an expression of love between a woman and a man in a life-long marriage commitment. Students are expected to abstain from premarital or extramarital sexual behavior, including, but not limited to cohabitation, same-sex sexual relationships, genital contact, oral sex, sexting (or sharing provocative electronic images via cell phones, computers, or webcams),and/or intercourse. Confidential University resources are available through a campus counselor or a campus pastor."
  • "We regard sex at birth as the identification of a person’s biological sex and do not support attempts to alter one’s birth sex in favor of an opposite psychological gender."

Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2022 - Faith Statement states that: "We believe that marriage was divinely ordained to be the lifelong and exclusive union of one man and one woman, and we affirm that the Scriptures prohibit all sexual intimacy outside of this Biblical, marital relationship. We believe that God created both male and female, and that He designed gender distinctions between men and women, including the Biblically-defined and distinctive roles of husband and wife. Since gender distinctions are rooted in divine order, changing or disguising one’s inherited sex (and correlated gender) reflective of this order transgresses God’s design. We believe in the sanctity of life of all human persons, including the unborn, ailing, and aging."

Faith International University and Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• August 2017 - FIU staff signs Nashville Statement

Family of Faith Christian University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and pregnancy while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2022 - Faith Statement states that:
  • "The educational instruction and all other activities of Family of Faith Christian University shall at all times be based upon and consistent with the following beliefs:"
  • "God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary sexes together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of one’s biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. Gen 1:26-27"
  • "Any form of sexual immorality (including adultery, fornication, cohabitation, homosexual behavior, bisexual conduct, bestiality, incest, or use of pornography) is sinful and offensive to God. Matt 15:18-20; 1 Cor 6:9-10"

Faulkner University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History:

• • October 2017 - Donald Trump Jr says college campuses teach Americans to hate their country and religion
  • 2022-2023 - Student handbook states that: 
    • In God’s perfect design for human sexuality, He instituted marriage between one man and one woman as the only permissible means by which couples could fulfill one another sexually4 . Christians are cautioned to flee sexual immorality and thus to honor God with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NIV). As followers of Jesus Christ, we are committed to being good stewards of the gifts the Creator has provided, including this gift of our sexuality 
    • We believe God’s intention is that human beings live their lives (in terms of both sexual orientation and gender identity) in accordance with the male or female biological sex characteristics they possessed at birth. (Gen 1-2). We believe that sexual orientation and/or gender identity in contradiction to one’s biological sex may sometimes be affected inexplicably through a complicated process involving the brain, genetics and relationships. We sadly acknowledge that “as a result of The Fall, complete physical and emotional wholeness for humanity will never fully occur on earth and that humans' experience of sex and gender (and many other things in our world) may not always be as the Creator originally designed”
    • Further, we do not affirm attempts (social and/or physiological) to change one’s given biological birth sex in favor of the identity of the opposite sex or of an intermediate or a fluid sexual identity.
    • Because the Bible condemns homosexual acts11, Faulkner does not condone homosexual relationships, nor does it permit any behavior that promotes or perpetuates homosexual relationships—whether holding hands, kissing, hugging, or any other romantic or sexual activity of any kind. Students who violate these conduct expectations are subject to corrective or disciplinary action, up to and including suspension or dismissal from the University (Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9). 

• February 2023 - Title IX  exemption request filed
• March 2023 - Title IX exemption granted

Florida College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• July 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2022 - 2023 - Student Handbook states that: "Students are expected to maintain their moral integrity within personal relationships. Sexual relationships of any type outside of marriage as defined in Scripture (Gen. 2:18–24) are not tolerated."

Franciscan University of Steubenville has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• August 2012 – Catholic University in Ohio Has Anti-Gay Pseudo-Science Course, Threatens LGBT Alumni Who Exposed It
• August 2012 – Ohio Catholic University Threatens LGBT Alumni For Exposing Anti-Gay Curriculum
• September 2012 – College Course Lumps Homosexuality, Rape, Murder
• September 2012 – Franciscan University Deviant Behavior Class Equates Homosexuality With Rape, Murder
• August 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• October 2014 – Title IX exemption granted
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• August 2019 - Natural Law and Gender Ideology Conference Focuses on Authentic Christian Anthropology
• May 2022 - Franciscan University of Steubenville graduate allegedly was cut out of graduation video

Freed-Hardeman University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• July 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• 2021 - Student Handbook reads: "All homosexual activity is prohibited. Any violation will result in severe disciplinary action, including suspension."

Fresno Pacific University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds. Fresno Pacific University has also qualified for the Worst List because it worked to dismantle SB 1146, a California bill designed to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination at their Christian college or university.

Campus History

• April 2007 – Fresno Pacific University Faculty Reaches Out to Equality Riders for Resolutions; Young Adults Bring Discussion of Christian Faith and LGBT Issues
• June 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• September 2015 – Fresno Pacific president’s statement about gay marriage causes strong reactions
• October 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• June 2016 – FPU opposes SB 1146
• August 2016 - Fresno Pacific on ‘shame list’ of colleges said to discriminate against LGBT students
• April 2021 - Filed motion to intervene to defend their religion-based bigotry despite the abuses of LGBTQ+ students cited in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education.
• October 2021 - Fresno Pacific students claim discrimination, censorship as gay pride club question looms
• October 2021 - Fresno Pacific board rejects request for LGBTQ+ Pride Club on campus
• November 2021 - Students  call on Fresno Pacific to reverse decision rejecting LGBTQ+ Pride Club
• March 2022 - Off-campus Fresno Pacific Pride Club calls for campus inclusion during the accreditation review

Fuller Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and is cited as one of the campuses in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education for abuses to LGBTQ+ students over the years.

Campus History

• November 2019 - Student Sues Fuller Theological Seminary After Being Expelled for Her Same-Sex Marriage
• October 2020 - Court Dismisses LGBT Anti-Discrimination Lawsuit Against Fuller Seminary
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”

Gateway Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• August 2016 - Gateway president signs letter against SB 1146
• August 2017 - Gateway president signs Nashville Statement
• 2018 - Ethical Conduct Standard form states that: "The behavior of every student is subject to review at all times during the full duration of enrollment in the Seminary. The Seminary reserves the right, at any time, to investigate student conduct and terminate the enrollment of any student who does not meet the Ethical Conduct Standard. Students are accountable to meet the requirements of the Ethical Conduct Standards until they are approved for graduation and the public graduation ceremony at their respective campus has been conducted. When a violation of these standards occurs near graduation, disciplinary actions by the seminary may include delaying or denying conferring of a degree and participation in a graduation ceremony.These ethical standards are articulated, but not limited to, the following statements: Sexual misconduct — including any form of extramarital sexual intercourse, inappropriate displays of affection or attention, lewd and indecent language or conduct, and homosexual behavior."

Geneva College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds. Geneva College has also hosted multiple "ex-gay" speakers on campus.

Campus History

• September 2013 – The Geneva Cabinet Does Series On Homosexuality
• August 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• September 2015 – Christopher Yuan Speaks at Geneva
• October 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• April 2016 – Rosaria Butterfield Presents “Sexual Identity and Union With Christ”
• June 2016 – Faces of Faith: LGBTQ Students at Christian Colleges
• 2019-2020 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "The College draws a distinction between romantic behavior – for example, extended or repeated hand holding, hugging, and kissing – between members of the opposite sex and between members of the same sex. The former, between persons of the opposite sex, is permitted if it is done with appropriate restraint. The latter, between persons of the same sex, is not permitted. The rationale for this distinction is that romantic behavior between members of the opposite sex can lead, in time, to an appropriate, godly sexual relationship in marriage. There is no such possibility for persons in same-sex relationships (based on the College’s understanding of Scripture)."
  • "Given the confessional commitments in the Geneva College Charter and Mission, College decisions regarding student admission and retention, employment hiring and retention, housing, restroom usage, and other related matters will be made according to one’s given biological sex established at birth."
  • "Geneva College designates housing, restroom, and locker room facilities for use according to one’s given biological sex established at birth. The college rejects claims to differential treatment in housing, restrooms, or locker rooms on the grounds of gender identity that differs from someone’s given biological sex established at birth."
  • "Geneva College requires student athletes to participate in college sports teams based on one’s given biological sex established at birth. The college does not permit students of one sex to play on sports teams of the opposite sex because of a claimed gender identity."
  • "Geneva College provides counseling and medical care that encourages people to work through problems of sexual uncertainty to engage their given biological sex established at birth. The college does not support use of medical procedures when a person chooses to make a physical alteration to that of the opposite sex."
  • "Specific acts such as drunkenness, stealing, the use of slanderous or profane language, all forms of harassment, all forms of dishonesty, involvement in or depiction of occult or satanic activity, sexual sins (i.e. premarital sex, cohabitation with a member of the opposite sex, rape, adultery, homosexual behavior), and the use or display of obscene and/or pornographic materials will not be tolerated."
• July 2023 - Christian College allegedly fires gay coach for saying LGBTQ people belong in the church

George Fox University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2012 – George Fox Alums Speak Out Against School’s Anti-Gay Policies
• November 2012 – University grapples with sensitive topic of openly gay students
• March 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• April 2014 – Ore. Trans Student Sues Christian University Over On-Campus Housing Denial
• May 2014 – Title IX exemption granted
• July 2014 – How A University Used A Religious Exemption To Discriminate Against A Transgender Student
• July 2014 – How LGBT Students Are Changing Christian Colleges
• July 2014 – Housing Dispute Puts Quaker University at Front of Fight Over Transgender Issues
• December 2015 – Federal Funding Is Not a Form of Religious Liberty
• September 2016 - 2 Oregon universities on list of 'absolute worst campuses' for LGBTQ students
• December 2019 - Viral video reignites LGBTQ debate at Quaker school
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• March 2023 - Lawsuit challenges religious colleges’ exemption from gender equity laws

Gordon College has qualified for the Worst List because it has a long and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, including the administration’s retaliation against a professor who criticized the school’s ban on hiring sexually active LGBTQ people; and college president Michael Lindsay’s request for a religious exemption to President Barack Obama’s non-discrimination executive order to protect LGBTQ students under Title IX.

Campus History

• July 2014 – Gordon College leader joins request for exemption to hiring rule
• March 2015 – Gordon College Reaffirms Ban on Students, Faculty Engaging in Extramarital Sex, Homosexuality
• May 2016 – Professor sues Christian college after she floated ‘economic sanctions’ for its LGBT policy
• June 2016 – Gordon College continues grappling with LGBT issues
• March 2017 - Second professor sues Gordon College for discrimination in her work with LGBT community
• April 2017 - Christian College’s Entire Faculty Senate Resigns After Professor Denied Promotion For Supporting LGBT Rights
• May 2019 - Facing Rising Costs And Charges Of Intolerance, Gordon College Plots A Future
• November 2020 - Gordon's LGBTQ+ Club Fights for Recognition
• December 2020 - Mass. SJC to hear Gordon College’s LGBTQ workplace discrimination case
• January 2021 - SJC hears arguments in Gordon College suit; School contends social work professor's role exempts it from employment laws
• 2021 - Life & Conduct Statement reads: "Homosexual practice... will not be tolerated in the lives of Gordon community members, either on or off campus."
• February 2022 - Christian College Cancels Speaker From Faith Week Over Sermon On LGBTQ Issues
• December 2022 - Gordon College reports settlement reached in long-running lawsuit by former professor

Grace Christian University (formerly Grace Bible College) has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2021 — 2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "Humans are created by God, in His image and by His authority as male and female (Genesis 1:26-28). The example of Scripture and its consistent teaching is that God’s design for sexual intimacy is limited to monogamous heterosexual marriage."
  • "In light of this, we do not support or affirm: marriage of any kind other than marriage between one man and one woman; sexual relations of any kind outside the confines of marriage between one man and one woman; resolution or attempted resolution of tension between one’s biological birth sex and one’s expression of gender by the adoption of a psychological identity discordant with one’s biological birth sex; changes or attempts to change one’s given biological birth sex via medical intervention in favor of the identity of the opposite sex or of an indeterminate identity."
  • "Sexual sins such as premarital sex, adultery, homosexual behavior, rejection of one’s biological sex, or any form of sexual harassment or assault are a violation of God’s moral code and are cause for dismissal from Grace Christian University."
  • "A member of the Grace Christian University community who openly and unrepentantly rejects their sex, either in or out of school, is rejecting the image of God within that person – behavior that dishonors the Holy Trinity and the Word of God. Such behavior constitutes a person’s failure to adhere to their commitment to abide by the behavioral standards established by Grace Christian University which is cause for terminating their privilege of membership in the Grace community."

Grace College has qualified for the Worst List because of their discriminatory and anti-LGBTQ+ language in their Student Handbook and Community Lifestyle Statement.

Campus History

• November 2015 - Community Lifestyle Statement states that: "In seeking to live out the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) rather than deeds of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), items expressly forbidden in the Scripture are not acceptable for members of the Grace Schools community. Examples include pride, greed, lust, slander, drunkenness, profane language, premarital sex, adultery, homosexual behavior, and prejudice (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). We affirm the holy institution of marriage as being between one man and one woman, rooted as it is in God’s creation of man and woman and in the relationship of Christ and his church."
• 2021-2022 - Catalog reaffirms this statement
• September 2022 - Founder of anti-LGBTQ Christian college sexually abused hundreds of young men

Grace University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and is cited as one of the campuses in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education for abuses to LGBTQ+ students over the years.

Campus History

• June 2013 - Danielle Powell, lesbian at Nebraska's Grace University, expelled, charged tuition
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”

Grove City College has qualified for the Worst List because of its past history and track record against LGBTQ people as well as its longstanding noncompliance with Title IX.  Grove City College refused to execute an Assurance of Compliance with Title IX's nondiscrimination provisions and chose not to comply with Title IX.  On February 28, 1984, the Supreme Court issued its decision (6-3 majority) in Grove City College v. Bell. As a result, Grove City College is not compliant with nondiscrimination protections under Title IX and not qualified for federal grants, loans or any form of federal financial assistance.

In addition, Grove City College members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• February 1984 -  U.S. Supreme Court Decision - Grove City College v. Bell
• August 2017 - GCC staff sign Nashville Statement
• 2022 - According to the Grove City College Student Handbook, “Members of the student body are expected to behave in a manner consistent with the College’s desire to provide an authentically Christian environment. Examples of behavior which constitute a violation of this Community Standard include, but are not limited to…Sexual misconduct including premarital sex (heterosexual or homosexual) or any other such conduct that violates historic Christian standards...” and residence halls at Grove City College are assigned by birth gender. 

Gutenberg College has qualified for the Worst List because it refuses to uphold any part of Title IX reporting requirements and reportedly has chosen not to receive federal monies in order to do so.  As a result, this campus does not comply with Title IX protections for any of its students, including for LGBTQ+ students.

Campus History

• May 2014 - "Where’s the Great Conversation, Gutenberg?"
  •  Former student shares the "biblical sexual ethics" of the Gutenberg College that"...puts gay people in the same category as cannibals, child rapists, and people who f@#$ automobiles. They are all on the same level of 'morally disgusting' and 'viscerally repulsive'"
• July 2016 -  The Controversial Reason Some Religious Colleges Forgo Federal Funding

Hannibal-LaGrange University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2014 – Gay Student Says He Was Rejected From College After Coming Out
• April 2015 – Hobby Lobby employee visits HLGU as controversy surrounds religious freedom laws
• August 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• October 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• December 2015 – Waivers Allowing Christian Schools To Ban LGBT Students Spike In 2015
• 2021 - Employee handbook reads: "Misuses of God’s gift will be understood to include, but will not be limited to, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, incest, adultery, fornication, and homosexual acts."

Hardin-Simmons University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• October 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• May 2016 – BGCT leader underscores opposition to gay marriage, transgenderism
• August 2016 - 9 Texas colleges rank among the 'absolute worst' for LGBT students, gay rights group says
• March 2018 - University to update policies for LGBT student employees
• December 2020 - Now everyone should know: I am gay
• October 2021 - LGBTQ advocacy group names Abilene Christian, Hardin-Simmons to 'Worst List'
• 2021-2022  - Student Handbook states that: "As an institution, HSU holds the value that the act of sex should be reserved for marriage between a man and a woman. Any sexual act outside of this definition is outside the bounds of how we interpret God’s word in the Bible. Education of a biblical view of sexual relations is the outcome that we seek. When a complaint or violation of the policy shows that a student acted outside of our biblical values of dignity and respect, we will address the conduct and hold students accountable."
• June 2022 - West Texas Baptist university adopts new faith statement with strict emphasis on gender and marriage , Here’s what’s wrong with the new Hardin Simmons Statement of Faith

Harding University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2011 – The State of the Gay at Harding University, Arkansas University Blocks Queer Zine , Revolution Queer Style Now: Christian College Bans Students’ Gay ‘Zine, LGBT Students at Harding University Cry Out for Help in Web Zine; School Immediately Blocks Access, War at Harding
• March 2011 - Why Is Arkansas Christian School Harding University Telling Gay Students They Must Turn Straight?
• April 2011 – Even on Religious Campuses, Students Fight for Gay Identity
• May 2011 - State Of The Gay, Queer Zine, Banned By Harding University
• June 2011 – Coming Out On a Christian Campus, Then and Now
• April 2014 – Op-ed: I’m a Gay Guy at a Christian College
• July 2014 – The Exciting Rise of Christian College LGBT Groups — And What They Mean for the Future
• February 2016 – McLarty Address LGBT Policies, Views at Harding
• May 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• August 2016 - Campus 'shame' list includes two Arkansas colleges
• September 2016 - Harding's Title IX Exemption: Is it hateful and discriminatory?
• January 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• April 2018 - This Anti-Gay Arkansas University Is Determined to Destroy the School’s Queer Zine
• August 2018 - Being gay at Harding University
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that: "Harding University holds to the biblical principle that God instituted marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman and that gender identity is given by God and revealed in one’s birth sex. Students are prohibited from being married to or dating a person of the same sex. Neither may students engage in behavior suggesting a romantic relationship with a person of the same sex. The University further holds to the biblical principle that sexual relationships outside the context of marriage are unacceptable to God and immoral. Sexual immorality in any form will result in suspension from the University."

Erskine College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2017 - Title IX exemption requested
• January 2018 - Title IX exemption granted
• April 2018 - Campus censors LGBTQ publication distributed on campus as violation of university policy.
• 2021-22 - Academic Catalog reads: "We believe that any form of adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, pedophilia, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex and design for mankind"

Hillsdale College has qualified for the Worst List because they have a demonstrated history of anti-LGBTQ+ language and reject federal funding in order to be exempt from Title IX.

Campus History

• July 2010 - Guidelines Regarding the Mission and Moral Commitments of Hillsdale College state that: “The College has always understood morally responsible sexual acts to be those occurring in marriage and between the sexes. This understanding has been unwavering, undergirds its policies regarding student conduct, and informs its institutional practices."
• May 2015 - Hillsdale College asks gay athlete to pray for destruction of "evil" same-sex marriage
• July 2016 - The Controversial Reason Some Religious Colleges Forgo Federal Funding
• August 2017 - The 20 Colleges Most Hostile to LGBT Students
• May 2018 - Mike Pence to Speak at College That Urged the 'Destruction of Same-Sex Marriage
• January 2023 - DeSantis' new assault on public education: Breaking New College of Florida

Houghton College has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• October 2020 - Artists bring light to Houghton College’s LGBTQ+ community
• May 2023 - A University Fired 2 Employees for Including Their Pronouns in Emails
• 2023 - Their website states that: "While there are differing perspectives on the LGBTQ relationships within the Christian community, Houghton University’s policies are based on the definition of marriage between a man and a woman as stated by The Wesleyan Church."

Howard Payne University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• April 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• December 2015 - Dishonor Roll ― The Schools that Sought Exemptions To Legally Discriminate Against LGBT Students, Religious colleges get exemptions to anti-bias law allowing hidden discrimination against lgbt students
• March 2016 – LGBT Groups Demand NCAA Divest From Christian Colleges Seeking Title IX Exemptions
• August 2016 - 9 Texas colleges rank among the 'absolute worst' for LGBT students, gay rights group says, The Nine Most Anti-LGBT Colleges in Texas
• March 2018 - Abilene university walks tightrope with ban on same-sex relationships for student workers
• 2020 - 2021 - Student Handbook states that: "Using the Bible and BGCT affirmed documents as the foundation for institutional policies and practices, HPU affirms fidelity in marriage, purity/ celibacy in singleness, marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and God’s creation of male and female through biological gender assignments. HPU students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with these standards of Christian morality. Students who engage in behaviors that violate these standards including, but not limited to, sexual activity outside of marriage, sexual activity with a person of the same sex, sexual assault/ violence, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, the use of pornographic material, and activities related to adopting a gender other than one’s birth gender, are subject to disciplinary sanctions up to and including expulsion from the University. HPU students are expected to refrain from participating in advocacy groups and/or organizations that promote understandings of sexuality and gender identity that are contrary to these biblical teachings and norms as defined by the University."
• March 2021 -LGBTQ advocacy group names Abilene Christian, Hardin-Simmons to 'Worst List' , 25 faith-based schools named in LGBTQ discrimination case against Department of Education

Indiana Wesleyan University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• January 1998 – A Letter From an Alumni of Indiana Wesleyan University
  February 2012 – Washington state allows same-sex marriage: Where does IWU fall?
• February 2014 – SGA talks LGBTQ
• December 2014 – President Wright speaks on new LGBTQ policy
• December 2015 – IWU President Worries Over Impact of Religious Freedom Battles
• March 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• April 2016 - IWU has an anti-gay problem; boosting Gov. Mike Pence doesn't help.
• May 2016 – Dept. of Education requests further information regarding exemption request
• June 2016 – IWU provides further information regarding exemption request
• January 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”

John Paul the Great Catholic University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds. John Paul the Great Catholic University has also qualified for the Worst List because it worked to dismantle SB 1146, a California bill designed to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination at their Christian college or university.

Campus History

• August 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• June 2016 – Statement to Sen. Lara Opposing SB 1146
• July 2016 – Bill: No LGBT Bias at Religious Schools
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Judson College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds. The college closed its doors in 2021.

Campus History

• February 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• April 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• 2021 - University Closed

Judson University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History 

• December 2016 - Title IX exemption requested
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2019-2020 - Student Handbook states that: "Any form of sexual immorality-including but not limited to pre-marital sex, cohabitation, homosexual behavior, and the use of pornography-is prohibited."

Kentucky Mountain Bible College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• July 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2016-2017  - Academic Catalog states that: "Therefore, KMBC retains the right to refuse enrollment to or to suspend any student who engages in sexual immorality, including any student who professes to be homosexual/bisexual or who is a practicing homosexual/bisexual, as well as any student who condones, supports, or otherwise promotes such practices (Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:24-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-20; 1 Timothy 1:9-11)."
• 2022 - Doctrine of Faith states that: "KMBC is committed to the Wesleyan interpretation of Christian doctrine and expects all members of faculty and staff to affirm yearly their allegiance to the doctrine, including the following positions:
  • A Biblical view regarding marital faithfulness and monogamy, requiring abstinence from promiscuity, fornication, and homosexual acts/lifestyle."

La Sierra University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and is cited as one of the campuses in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education for abuses to LGBTQ+ students over the years. La Sierra University also holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing them to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• June 2022 - Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2022 - Title IX exemption granted

LABI College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• September 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• Spring 2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "We support the dignity of individual persons affirming their biological sex and discouraging any and all attempts to physically change, alter, or disagree with their predominant biological sex (Genesis 1:26–28; Romans 1:26–32; 1 Corinthians 6:9– 11)."
  • "Homosexuality is both a sin against God and mankind. It runs contrary to the divine plan, purpose, and will of God who created us in His image (Genesis 1:27) and redeemed us so that this image, marred because of sin, might be renewed (Colossians 3:10). Most fundamentally, homosexuality is sin because it perverts the created order of human sexuality, the heterosexual fulfillment of both man and woman (1 Corinthians 7:2-5)."
  • "When people choose to engage in premarital sexual activity or homosexual behavior, they depart from the God-given nature of sexuality. Their unnatural sexual behavior is a sin against God, who established the order of sexuality (Romans 1:27). LABI College does not condone any of such behavior."
  • "LABI does not tolerate homosexual dating relationships of any kind, as all homosexual activity or temptation is not condoned within LABI College."

Lancaster Bible College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• June 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• August 2016 - Lancaster Bible College named among 'absolute worst' campuses for LGBT students
• April 2021 - Lancaster Bible College President: Equality Act could threaten accreditation
• 2022 - Statement of Faith states that: "We believe God created humanity, male and female, reflecting the image and likeness of God. Each person’s biological sex has been sovereignly appointed by God and is an irreversible aspect of his or her nature."

Lee University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• September 2021 - Lee University removes “gender identity” from campus anti-discrimination policy
• May 2022 - Lee University considers limiting student speech on gender
• May 2022 - Students, Alumni Condemn Lee University’s Leaked Anti-LGBTQ Guidelines

Liberty University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds. In addition, Liberty University has a long and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, including placing students in conversion therapy; denying tuition discounts to same-sex and trans spouses of military personnel, despite offering those discounts to heterosexual and cisgender spouses; and a formal affiliation with the dangerously anti-LGBTQ Liberty Counsel.

Campus History

• March 2006 – Gay Rights Activists Arrested at Liberty University
• March 2006 – 24 Soulforce protesters (including me) arrested at Falwell’s Liberty U.
• September 2008 – Liberty to allow gay group to visit campus
• December 2014 – 10 Things You Should Know About the Rabidly Anti-LGBT Liberty Counsel
• November 2015 – Liberty University Denies Tuition Discounts to LGBT Military Spouses
• January 2016 – Donald Trump picks up a key evangelical endorsement
• June 2016 – Liberty University deletes section on gays from psychology textbook
• August 2016 - Campus Pride releases Shame List of worst colleges for LGBT students
• October 2016 - Liberty University students issue scathing criticism of Trump and school president
• January 2017 - Campus Pride denounces President of Liberty University Jerry Falwell, Jr
• February 2017 - Trump Taps LGBT Foe Jerry Falwell to Head Education Task Force
• February 2017 - Liberty and Bob Jones universities may run afoul of Obama Title IX protections for LGBT
• March 2017 - Donald Trump Giving Commencement Speech At University That Bans LGBT Students
• April 2017 - Former college athlete on surviving conversion therapy and gay ‘exorcism’
• August 2017 - Liberty employees sign Nashville Statement
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• June 2020 - Falwell’s son, current Liberty President Falwell Jr., has been less vocal on the subject of LGBTQ relationships than his father, although members of the school's LGBTQ community staged a protest on campus in 2019 when Falwell made comments they decried as transphobic. The school also made Campus Pride’s “worst list” for LGBTQ youth as recently as 2017, and Liberty’s code of conduct — known as the “Liberty Way” — still explicitly forbids sexual relations "outside of a biblically-ordained marriage between a natural-born man and a natural-born woman.”
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• July 2021 - Former Liberty University Diversity Director Sues School for Discrimination
• 2022 - 2023 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "Liberty University is bound by its Doctrinal Statement and by the teaching of the traditional biblical definition of gender, which is that humans are created by God either biologically male or female from the womb, as well as the traditional biblical definition of marriage, which is that it is only between a natural-born man and a natural-born woman."
  • "For example, sexual relations outside a biblically ordained marriage, romantic displays of affection with a member of the same sex (e.g., hand-holding, kissing, dating, etc.), and actions confirming denial of biological birth sex (e.g., asking to be referred to by pronouns inconsistent with one’s birth sex, using restrooms and changing facilities reserved for persons other than one’s birth sex, etc.) are prohibited by The Liberty Way."
• December 2022 - Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2023 - Title IX exemption granted

Life Pacific College has qualified for the Worst List because it worked to dismantle SB 1146, a California bill designed to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination at their Christian college or university. Life Pacific College has also qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• August 2016 – Opposing SB 1146 at Life Pacific College
• November 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2022 - Religious Exemption Disclosure states that: "Life Pacific University maintains the view that all official student data (including, but not limited to admissions applications, enrollment data, alumni records, and transcripts) and decisions (including, but not limited to housing assignments and the application of other residential policies) will reflect a student’s sex at birth."

Lincoln Christian University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

Lipscomb University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and is cited as one of the campuses in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education for abuses to LGBTQ+ students over the years.

Campus History

• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• October 2021 - These are the 'worst, most unsafe' campuses for LGBTQ students to attend

Louisiana College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• April 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2015 – Second exemption request filed
• July 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• February 2019 - Louisiana College quits CCCU over LGBT policy, Louisiana College leaves CCCU over support for 'Fairness for All' LGBT compromise
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that: "​​As followers of Christ, we turn from sexual immorality in its many forms including but not limited to the following: pornography, pre-marital sexual relations, adultery, and same sex romantic intimacy and/or sexual relations. We come alongside those experiencing same sex attractions who choose to honor Christ by not pursuing those attractions, just as we come alongside all individuals who seek to live in purity before the Lord (Col. 3:5; Gal. 5:19-21; Rom. 1:21-27; 1 Cor. 6:9-10). We believe we are created by God in His image as two distinct sexes: male and female (Gen. 1:26-28; Matt. 19:4-5). We believe that each person glorifies God and affirms His infinite holiness and wisdom by living in alignment with his or her birth sex. While we acknowledge there may be confusion and brokenness for some individuals in this area, we do not affirm or support transgender identity or expression."

Lutheran Brethren Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• February 2018 – Title IX exemption request filed
• March 2018 – Title IX exemption granted

Malone University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a demonstrated past history and track record of anti-LGBTQ actions, programs and practices.  The Community Agreement for Sexual Conduct statement reads: "Sex should be exclusively reserved for the marriage relationship, understood as a legal, lifelong commitment between a husband and wife." Note: Under current United States law, legal marriage includes same sex marriage.

Campus History

• October 2021 - Associate Professor informs Malone University administration leadership that she is getting married in the summer to a woman. Sent to the Student Body, the email shares how this is in violation of the Community Agreement and purports that she agreed to resign after eight years of working for the university. 
• October 2021 - Departure of gay Malone University professor ignites LGBTQ+ debate

Manhattan Christian College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• April 2016 – Second exemption request filed
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted

Maranatha Baptist University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• February 2012 - Title IX exemption request filed
• June 2013 - Title IX exemption granted
• May 2023 - LGBTQ students wrestle with tensions at Christian Colleges

Messiah University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and is cited as one of the campuses in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education for abuses to LGBTQ+ students over the years.

Campus History

• November 2017 - Diet cig cancel show due to discriminatory LGBT policies
• November 2019 - Messiah College student defends tweets about rape, LGBTQ community
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”

Mid-Atlantic Christian University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• October 2014 - Midwestern Seminary President's essay on same-sex marriage
• October 2015 - Southern Baptist Conference: ‘Struggling’ LGBT People Can Change Through Christ
• March 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2016 - Midwestern Seminary professor counters "born this way" narrative in book
• July 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• August 2017 - MBTS employees, including president, sign Nashville Statement
• 2022 - Doctrinal Statement states that:
  • "WE DENY that God has designed marriage to be a homosexual, polygamous, or polyamorous relationship. We also deny that marriage is a mere human contract rather than a covenant made before God."
  • "WE DENY that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent with God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption."
  • "WE AFFIRM that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness."
  • "WE DENY that the approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christians should agree to disagree."
  • "WE AFFIRM that the grace of God in Christ enables sinners to forsake transgender self- conceptions and by divine forbearance to accept the God-ordained link between one’s biological sex and one’s self-conception as male or female."
• 2022 - 2023 - Student Handbook states that: "Sexual impropriety is participation in premarital sex, extramarital sex, homosexual activities or any form of deviant sexual behavior or cohabitation."

Milligan University (formerly Milligan College) has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of statements and reports of anti-LGBTQ discrimination on campus that has created an inhospitable, harmful climate for LGBTQ students, staff and faculty.

The President Bill Greer in 2020 reiterated that "we endorse the position that 'The Christian scriptures portray human sexuality as a gift from God intended to be expressed within the context of chastity in singleness or covenant marriage.' Further, we believe that 'Biblical marriage is heterosexual.' It is important to understand, however, that this position does not prohibit someone who identifies with the LGBTQ community from enrolling here. Nor does allowing enrollment imply acceptance of this lifestyle. It does, however, demonstrate the sort of grace that Jesus would show.'

As stated in the university Faculty Handbook even tenured professors can be terminated for “immoral conduct,” including “immoral sexual conduct,” which is described as “any sexual conduct outside of a marriage relationship of a man and a woman.”

2019 graduate Mikaela Way said to the news. "I’d say a huge percentage of that community is closeted and doesn’t feel like they can be their true and honest selves with the people who are supposed to love them and know them best of all — their Christian community.”

Campus History 

• October 2015 - Board of Trustees approve Statement on Sexuality
• October 2020 - Forced resignation of Milligan University professor heightens calls for change, dialogue regarding LGBTQ community
• October 2020 - Milligan Students Call for Commitment Against LGBTQ Discrimination
• October 2020 - Statement from Milligan University President Bill Greer
• October 2020 - ETSU Student Government committee denounces Milligan over alleged LGBTQ discrimination
• April 2020 - Open letter denouncing the Milligan University Administration from alumni and students
• April 2023 - LGBTQ advocacy group continues promoting change at Milligan with 5th billboard

Mississippi College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2007 - Gay Rights Activists Protest MC , Mississippi College: Gay rights group can't stop on campus
• October 2008 - Soulforce Does MC, Again
• September 2011 - Mississippi College Student Says School Won't Let Him Start Gay Law Organization
• September 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• October 2015 – Title IX exemption granted

Missouri Baptist University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• June 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2016 – Dept. of Education requests further information regarding exemption request
• March 2016 – MBU provides further information regarding exemption request
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• March 2021 - 25 faith-based schools named in LGBTQ discrimination case against Department of Education

Moody Bible Institute has qualified for the Worst List because members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth. In addition, the campus employs faculty who promote harmful "ex-gay" conversion therapy.

Campus History

• August 2013 - MBI employs "ex-gay" icon Christopher Yuan who shares anti-LGBTQ conversion tactics in Sexuality and the Gospel
• August 2017 - Moody employees, including president, sign Nashville Statement
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• June 2021 - Moody Bible Institute Chicago sued for discrimination
• March 2022 - Ex-gay prof. says same-sex desires are sinful, even if not acted upon

Multnomah University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• February 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2015 – A Portland University Wants Federal Permission to Ban Transgender Students
• December 2015 – Protesters gather at Multnomah University demonstrating against Title IX exemption
• December 2015 – Federal Funding Is Not a Form of Religious Liberty
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• September 2016 - 2 Oregon universities on list of 'absolute worst campuses' for LGBTQ students
• September 2018 - Christian Colleges Send Mixed Signals to LGBTQ+ Students
• 2020 - Human Sexuality and Purity Understanding states that:
  • "Alongside clear biblical teachings on God’s design for heterosexual marriage are found specific instructions that prohibit homosexual conduct. For example, the Old Testament says: “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable” (Lev. 18:22, 20:13). Homosexual conduct is prohibited because it is out of harmony with God’s design for his created human beings. Further, the New Testament states: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator—who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error” (Rom. 1:25-27; NAS)."
  • "What will disqualify a potential or existing student/employee who is struggling with gender identity is not the presence of the struggle itself, but the lack of willingness to be faithful to God in that struggle as evidenced by a lack of consistent awareness, humility, teachableness, accountability and openness to others in the transformation process towards Christlikeness."
  • "In some cases it may be determined that it is necessary for the student or potential student to work through issues of sexual identity and/or gender confusion apart from being a member of the Multnomah community."
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "Marriage is a human relationship created by God and intended to be heterosexual and monogamous. Sex as an expression of love and a means of pleasure is meant to be enjoyed and reserved for marriage between a man and a woman."
  • "Conduct—Rules and Regulations Any student found to have committed or to have attempted to commit the following misconduct may be subject to the disciplinary sanctions outlined in Article IV:  Sexual activity outside of a heterosexual marriage, or sexual activity within a marriage that may include but is not limited to rape, abuse, harassment, intimidation, or physical harm.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• January 2015 - Pastor on gay marriage: 'To grant someone marriage, that goes too far'
• August 2016 - NOBTS president signs letter against SB 1146
• August 2017 - NOBTS staff, including president, sign Nashville Statement
• October 2017 - INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS & SEXUALITY DISCUSSED AT NOBTS FORUM
• March 2021 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "The seminary may take disciplinary action should the standard of ethical and personal conduct be violated. Violation of this standard shall include, but is not limited to: c. Sexual activity outside of a monogamous heterosexual marriage;"

North Greenville University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• December 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• May 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• August 2015 – Why same-sex ruling has SC’s religious-based schools fearing loss of tax exemption
• August 2016 – Bob Jones president and others ask Haley for help on transgender bathroom issue
• August 2016 - Eight Carolinas colleges included on ‘Shame List’ for LGBT discrimination
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Northpoint Bible College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• September 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• May 2016 – Rep. Clark introduces law to list schools asking for LGBT exemptions
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• 2021 - Code of Honor Pledge states requires students to pledge that: "I will not support or participate in Biblically prohibited sexual acts including lesbian, bisexual, and homosexual behavior, sexual relations outside of marriage, or transgender and cross gender identity activity. (Cross gender identity is seeking to live as or identify with a sex or gender other than the biological sex or gender assigned to an individual by God at birth.) See Genesis 1:27; Leviticus 18; Deuteronomy 22:5; Romans 1:18- 32; 1 Corinthians 6:18-30; 1Timothy 1:10."
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that: "Issues requiring the attention of the student life committee are based on but not limited to the following infractions: iii. Participating in lesbian, bisexual, homosexual behavior, as well as transgender and gender identity activity (Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:26-27;1 Corinthians 6:9 NKJV). "

Northwest Nazarene University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• July 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• August 2014 – Title IX exemption granted
• 2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "We commit to lives of sexual purity. Recognizing that we are beings made in the image of God, we seek to restrain ourselves from behaviors and actions that discredit or harm the inherent value we hold as beings gifted with sexual impulses and desires. We commit to live out and singularly promote the God-given gift of gender identity. With that in mind, we commit to a view of sex as being fully realized between male and female within the gift of the marriage covenant as defined by the church. Married students commit to being faithful within their marriage covenant and to avoid any sexual behavior outside that covenant relationship. We avoid any public displays of affection between individuals that might be deemed inappropriate and not in keeping with the heart of this covenant. We commit to avoid the use and/or distribution of pornographic materials, criminal sexual behavior, and any sexual contact outside of heterosexual marriage."
  • "BASIS FOR DISCIPLINE The following conduct constitutes conduct for which discipline as described in this Section is authorized… Sexual conduct outside of heterosexual marriage…Practice or promotion of transgender conduct."

Northwest University has qualified for the Worst List because of discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ language in their Student Handbook and because of an email that was circulated amongst faculty that expresses anti-LGBTQ+ policies.

Campus History

• June 2014 - Nyack College president signs letter to President Obama requesting religious exemption from LGBT protections for hiring
• December 2015 - Christian College Coach Assaulted, Harassed, and Outed Gay Students: Lawsuit
• December 2015 - Nyack College cancels ceremony in face of LGBT protests
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• July 2023 - How a Christian transgender man increased his faith by taking the fight over LGBTQ+ rights to religious schools
• July 2023 - Alliance University, formerly Nyack College, will close down after losing accreditation

Oak Hills Christian College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• July 2015 - Students & faculty at Oak Hills Christian College required to agree to a purity statement that discusses LGBTQ 'attitudes & actions'
• July 2015 -Eight Minnesota colleges discriminate against LGBT students, staff, and faculty
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that: "By contrast, followers of Jesus Christ will repent and flee from sinful attitudes or actions such as: Sexual sins: immorality, lust, adultery, homosexuality, immodesty, orgies, pornography, sexual violence (Leviticus 18, Colossians 3:5, Romans 1:24-27)."

Oak Valley College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History:

• 2022-2023: Honor Code states that:
  • “As we strive to walk by the Spirit, “crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24), we seek to avoid sins forbidden in Scripture (Galatians 5:16-21; I Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 5:1-14).  Specifically, we are not to engage in activities that Scripture forbids or advocate positions inconsistent or contrary to these standards. Such activities include, but are not limited to, dishonesty (Academic Honesty is outlined in the Catalog), thievery, fornication, adultery, violations of the law, drunkenness, unscriptural divorce, homosexual practice, and the destruction of innocent human life after conception through abortion on demand, covetousness, jealousy, pride, and lust—sins, which the maturing Christian should avoid.”
• January 2023 - Title IX exemption request filed
• March 2023 - Title IX exemption granted

Ohio Christian University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• June 2014 – Ohio Board Of Education Member Calls On Religious Right To Take Over Education
• May 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2015 – More Religious Schools Seek Right to Discriminate Against LGBT Students
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• May 2018 - This Lawyer Was Fired from Ohio Christian University for Investigating Misconduct
• July 2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "A faithful interpretation of Scripture affirms the principle that sexual purity honors God and that all forms of sexual intimacy that occur outside the covenant of heterosexual marriage are sinful distortions of the holiness and beauty for which God intended."
  • "We do not surrender the biblical standard of sexual purity to the prevailing secular culture, nor the definition of “male” and “female” to mean something more or different than an individual’s sex at birth."
  • "Personal Conduct Rules: Immoral sexual activity (Based on scriptural prohibitions of fornication, adultery, and homosexuality: Romans 1:26-27, Galatians 5:19-21, Leviticus 18)"

Oklahoma Baptist University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2006 – Students Use Spring Break to Fight Schools’ Anti-Gay Policies
• March 2007 – Equality Riders Arrested at Oklahoma Baptist University; Administration Reneges on Last Year’s Promise to Protect LGBT Students
• March 2012 – Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy group holds demonstration at Oklahoma Baptist University
• November 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2014 – Title IX exemption granted
• February 2016 – Students Picket Christian Colleges Seeking ‘Right to Discriminate’
• May 2016 – Birthing a Bison: Building Student Power in Hostile Environments
• June 2016 – Faces of Faith: LGBTQ Students at Christian Colleges
• July 2016 – How Title IX exemptions force LGBT students to suffer in silence
• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• March 2021 - 25 faith-based schools named in LGBTQ discrimination case against Department of Education
• April 2022 - LGBTQ college students allege discriminatory treatment at Christian schools

Oklahoma Christian University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• September 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• October 2014 – Title IX exemption granted
• February 2017 - Oklahoma Christian featured on gay-rights group shame list
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• March 2022 - Oklahoma university allegedly fires professor over gay guest speaker; Former Oklahoma Christian Professor Speaks Out About Dismissal
• March 2022 - Librarian denied tenure over social media post, resigns.
• April 2022 - LGBTQ college students allege discriminatory treatment at Christian schools

Oklahoma Wesleyan University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2014 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2014 – Title IX exemption granted
• August 2015 - Oklahoma Wesleyan and Union U. Quit CCCU Over Same-Sex Marriage Moves
• January 2016 - Oklahoma Wesleyan President's Anti-trans Policy Denounced as 'Despicable' 
• January 2016 - Oklahoma Wesleyan University President Says He is “Proud” to Discriminate Against Transgender People
• September 2016 - Two colleges stand by HB2, will not send teams to championships moved out of North Carolina
• May 2017 - President Everett Piper speaks at anti-LGBT hate group World Congress of Families
• August 2017 - OWU president signs Nashville Statement
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Oral Roberts University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• March 2006 - Oral Roberts University Sends Mixed Message to Gays: We Love You All; Do Not Come Onto Our Campus
• April 2011 - A Gay Grandson to an Evangelical Empire
• March 2016 - Fitbit helps a conservative evangelical college monitor students' sexual activity
• April 2016 - Former ORU student says school is blocking her re-admission over her marriage to a woman
• September 2016 - Oral Roberts grandson speaks on erasure of gay uncle
• October 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• December 2018 - Gay student endures conversion therapy at Oral Roberts University
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• 2022 - Oral Roberts’ Student Handbook states that: “Certain behaviors are expressly prohibited in Scripture and therefore should be avoided by members of the University community. They include theft, lying, dishonesty, gossip, slander, backbiting, profanity, vulgarity (including crude language), sexual promiscuity (including adultery, any homosexual behavior, premarital sex)...” and that “Students who disobey these University rules are subject to automatic suspension.”
• 2022 - Oral Roberts' Honor Code Pledge requires students to pledge that “I will not engage in or attempt to engage in any illicit, unscriptural sexual acts, which include any homosexual activity and sexual intercourse with one who is not my spouse. I will not be united in marriage other than the marriage between one man and one woman.” 
• May 2022 - A Gay Oral Roberts University Graduate's Painful Story
• January 2023 - Lawsuit involving former ORU students dismissed, appeal planned
• March 2023 - Baylor and Oral Roberts top the March Madness field when it comes to homophobia

Ozark Christian College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• March 2018 - Gay students expelled from Christian college
• April 2018 – Students who are openly gay and Christian challenge OCC, other religious colleges
• August 2022- 2023 - Community Guidelines state that:
  • “We believe that premarital sex, extramarital sex, bisexual acts, same-sex marriage, and homosexual acts violate clear biblical teaching on sexual purity."
  • "Consistent with our desire to teach and model a biblical approach to sexuality,  OCC prohibits same-sex dating behaviors and public advocacy for any sexual activity outside of a biblically defined marriage."
  • "Consistent with out commitment to God’s design for gender identity, the public advocacy for or the act of altering one’s birth-gender identity through medical transition or transgender expression is prohibited. This commitment to gender identity also applies to, but is not limited to, the use of bathrooms, locker rooms, student housing, and participating in gender-specific college groups, clubs, and organizations."
  • "All students are responsible for compliance with OCC’s Community Values prohibiting homosexual activity… All same-sex relationships must be platonic relationships.”

Palm Beach Atlantic University has qualified for the Worst List because of their recent history of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in both their admissions and their Values Statement.

Campus History

• April 2021 - Statement on Human Sexuality states that “We believe that Christian marriage is between a man and a woman.  Sex is a wonderful, God‐given gift explicitly intended for the marital relationship between a biological male and female (1 Corinthians 7:2-5) and gender follows biology,” that “Sexual immorality, including fornication, adultery, and homosexual behavior, is prohibited in Scripture (Romans 1:26‐28; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Matthew 5:28) because our bodies are “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:13‐20),” and that “PBA expects that their students, faculty, and staff will neither engage in nor promote views of sexuality or gender expression that contradicts biblical standards (Romans 1:21‐27; 1 Corinthians 6:9‐10; Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:31).”
• July 2022 - Christian college accused of rejecting gay student over photo of her kissing girlfriend, Gay Student's Admission Allegedly Rescinded by Florida University

Patrick Henry College has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. Patrick Henry College also refuses to uphold any part of Title IX reporting requirements and rejects federal monies in order to do so.  As a result, this campus does not comply with Title IX protections for any of its students, including for LGBTQ+ students. 

Campus History 

• October 2017 - ANTI-LGBT ROUNDUP 10.13.17
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• October 2019 - Judge dismisses Christian therapist's lawsuit challenging Maryland's gay 'conversion therapy' ban
• 2022 - The Patrick Henry College Student Handbook states that:
  • “Human sexuality is a great blessing created by God to be enjoyed within the context of a monogamous marriage between a man and a woman; any sexual conduct outside the parameters of marriage is sin.”
  • “The practice of homosexual conduct or other extra-marital sexual relations is inconsistent with our faith position.”
  • “Since any sexual conduct outside the parameters of the faithful marriage of a man and a woman is sin, any government which creates legal structures to encourage or condone inappropriate sexual activity or lust, heterosexual or homosexual, or which creates special legal rights and protections based on sexual conduct, is acting immorally and without authority.” 
  • “Since God created mankind in His own image as male and female, men and women are sexually different but with equal personal dignity. Consequently, any attempts to physically change, alter, or disagree with one’s predominant biological sex, including but not limited to elective sex-reassignment, transvestite, transgender, or nonbinary “genderqueer” acts or conduct are sinful. [Genesis 1:26-28, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11]”
  • “The College shall maintain its constitutional and statutory right to discriminate on the basis of religion in order to accomplish the religious mission of the College. The College chooses to limit its student body, board, and staff to those who are committed to its statement of faith. The practice of homosexual conduct or other extramarital sexual relations is inconsistent with the College’s faith position.”
  • “Students will not dress in a way that will cause others to mistake them for a member of the other sex (e.g., 1 Tim 2:9; Deut 22:5).”
  • “Students will not advocate non-Biblical sexual practices, such as extra-marital sex, homosexuality or homosexual “marriage” (e.g., Is 5:20, Romans 1:26-27).”

Pensacola Christian College has qualified for the Worst List because of discriminatory language in their student handbook and anti-LGBTQ+ language in their statement of biblical foundations. Pensacola Christian College also refuses to uphold any part of Title IX reporting requirements and rejects federal monies in order to do so.  As a result, this campus does not comply with Title IX protections for any of its students, including for LGBTQ+ students. 

Campus History

• August 2022 - Biblical Statement states that “We believe that God created man and woman in His image and instituted marriage between one who is genetically male and one who is genetically female (Gen. 2:18–24). Marriage is a sacred, exclusive union between a man and woman and serves as a picture of Christ’s relationship with the church (Matt. 19:3–12, Eph. 5:22–33). We believe that God has commanded that sexual activity be exclusively reserved to a man and a woman who are legally married to each other; and that Scripture forbids any form of sexual immorality including adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bestiality, incest, and use of pornography (Matt. 5:27–28, 15:18–20; 1 Cor. 6:9–11 & 18, 7:1–5; Heb. 13:4).”
• 2022 - 2023 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "Pornography or sexual immorality—The Bible indicates that all sexual activity is only intended to be within a monogamous, heterosexual marriage. Any other sexual activity or involvement in pornography or sexual communication (including jokes) whether verbal, written, or electronic is prohibited. (1 Cor. 6:9–10, 1 Cor. 6:18–20, Matt. 5:28, Heb. 13:4, Rom. 1:26–27, Ps. 119:37, 1 John 2:16, Prov. 14:9)"
  • "Transgender identification—God created each individual in His image with distinct attributes. For this reason, rejecting or changing biological gender/identity through alternate means such as medication, surgery, appearance, dress, personal pronouns, etc., is not permissible. (Ps. 139:13–14, Gen. 1:26–27, Matt. 19:4)"
• February 2023: Florida College Cancels Concert Over Gay Singer, Drawing Backlash

Phoenix Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• August 2017 - Phoenix staff, including president, sign Nashville Statement
• April 2021 - Filed motion to intervene to defend their religion-based bigotry despite the abuses of LGBTQ+ students cited in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education.

Point Loma Nazarene University has qualified for the Worst List because it worked to dismantle SB 1146, a California bill designed to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination at their Christian college or university.

Campus History

• December 2012 - LGBTQ Club Denied Charter at Point Loma Nazarene University
• November 2014 - PLNU expects celibacy when hiring LGBT
• September 2015 - PLNU says 'no more' to on-campus wedding ceremonies after SCOTUS gay marriage ruling
• August 2016 - Point Loma, 101 others, take their spots on the anti-LGBT college 'Shame List'
• August 2016 - State senator drops proposal that angered religious universities in California
• September 2016 – PLNU Donates $50,000 to fight Senate Bill 1146
• November 2020 - How LGBTQ Friendly is PLNU?
• 2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "Students are expected to abstain from sexual intimacy outside of heterosexual marriage." 
  • "Residential Life housing assignments, use of single gender restrooms, and locker rooms are consistent with one’s assigned sex at birth."
  • "Intercollegiate athletic team assignments are consistent with one’s assigned sex at birth."
• February 2023 - Loma 5k LGBTQ Team: PLNU Queer Alumni Demand Visibility
• April 2023 - Turmoil at Point Loma Nazarene as Dean Allegedly Fired for Siding with Gay Rights

Point University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Presbyterian Theological Seminary in America has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing them to discriminate on the basis of sexuality, gender identity, and sexual purity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

Randall University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• September 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "Failure to comply with the university’s sexual morality policy will result in disciplinary action. Below is a list of some of the practices that directly violate policy: The University will not tolerate homosexual activities or the promotion of homosexuality within its jurisdiction. Admission or detection of homosexual practices or advocacy by a student will result in dismissal from the College. Because the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin (Lev. 18:22, 20:13; Romans 1:25-32; I Cor. 6:9) and because we accept the Bible as the Word of God, Randall University does not consider a homosexual lifestyle to be an acceptable pattern of human behavior. Randall University reserves the right to require the withdrawal of any student identifying as homosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Students who struggle with homosexual thoughts or behaviors but do not identify as homosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or 39 transgender (meaning the student does not regularly practice or want to continue this lifestyle) will be given the option to attend counseling either administered or set up by the University."
  • "The university reserves the right to require the immediate withdrawal of students who identify as transgender/trans, bigender, transition, transsexual, or any other type of gender confusion that alters the birth sex."

Reformation Bible College has qualified for the Worst List because members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• August 2017 - RBC president signs Nashville Statement

Reformed Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• August 2017 - Members of RTS staff, including CEO, sign Nashville Statement

Regent University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation while still receiving federal funds. In addition, members of Regent University's staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• May 2002 - Regent University Law Review publishes CHILD MOLESTATION AND THE HOMOSEXUAL MOVEMENT
• August 2017 - Regent staff signs Nashville Statement
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• August 2021 - Regent University law student suing over LGBTQ+ discrimination
• December 2022 - Title IX exemption request filed
• February 2023 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2023 - Student Handbook states that: "Regent University fully accepts the teachings of the traditional Biblical view with regard to the goodness of our sexuality, the importance of chastity, and the place of heterosexual marriage as God's intended context for complete sexual expression to occur (Gen. 2:21-24). Sexual misconduct that is prohibited includes disorderly conduct or lewd, indecent, or obscene conduct or expression, involvement with pornography, premarital sex, adultery, homosexual conduct or any other conduct that violates Biblical standards."

Rhema Bible Training College has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, or gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• January 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• March 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9–11 MKJV).
  • "Therefore, RBTC will not allow any type of physical or sexual activity/behavior other than what the Bible states is permitted for a husband and wife who are legally married. This includes, but is not limited to, homosexual activities, fornication, adultery, pornography, and so forth which are immoral behavior and are not permitted."

San Diego Christian College has qualified for the Worst List because of its anti-LGBTQ+ language on its website. 

Campus History

• 2022 - Biblical Preamble states that: "We believe that God has established marriage as a lifelong, exclusive relationship between one man and one woman and that all intimate sexual activity outside the marriage relationship, whether heterosexual, homosexual, or otherwise, is contrary to God’s creative order and express will (Gen. 2:24-25; Ex. 20:14, 17, 22:19; Lev. 18:22-23, 20:13, 15-16; Matt. 19:4-6, 9; Rom. 1:18-31; I Cor. 6:9-10, 15-20; I Tim. 1:8-11; Jude 7). We believe that God created the human race male and female and that all conduct with the intent to adopt a gender identity other than one’s birth gender is also contrary to God’s creative order and express will (Gen. 1:27; Deut. 22:5)."

Seattle Pacific University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and is cited as one of the campuses in the class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education for abuses to LGBTQ+ students over the years. In September 2022, a group of students, faculty, and staff partnered with the Religious Exemption Accountability Project to sue "members of the university's board of trustees for breaches of fiduciary duty relating to the university's anti-LGBTQ+ discriminatory hiring policy." 

Campus History

• March 2021 - The Religious Exemption Accountability Project, or REAP, filed a class action lawsuit Hunter v. the U.S. Department of Education on March 26, 2021, against this campus and other named campuses citing the abuses that thousands of LGBTQ+ students endured at these colleges and universities over the years.  LGBTQ+ students document their own direct discrimination, harassment and negative harms in the filing.  Those abuses include “conversion therapy, expulsion, denial of housing and health care, sexual and physical abuse and harassment.” The abuses also include the “less visible, but no less damaging, consequences of institutionalized shame, fear, anxiety, and loneliness.”
• 2022 - SPU employment policy requires employees to “refrain from sexual behavior that is inconsistent with the University’s understanding of Biblical standards, including cohabitation, extramarital sexual activity, and same-sex sexual activity.”
• June 2022 - Graduating students at Seattle Pacific University give pride flags to interim president in protest of anti-LGBTQ+ policy
• September 2022 - Faculty, students sue Christian school over LGBTQ hiring ban
• April 2023 - Judge denies most claims against Seattle Pacific University board

Shepherds Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• December 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "We believe that sexual activity outside of a marriage between one man and one woman is sin. Any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgender, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, fornication, adultery, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex. God has created us male and female, and He desires that we find joy and contentment in His design. (Genesis 2:24; Genesis 19:5, 13; Genesis 26:8–9; Leviticus 18:1–30; Romans 1: 26– 29; 1 Corinthians 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8; Hebrews 13:4)"
  • "Any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgender, bestiality, incest, pedophilia, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex (Genesis 19:5, 13; 26:8–9; Leviticus 18:1–30; Romans 1:26–29; 1 Corinthians 5:1, 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–8; Hebrews 13:4)."
  • "We believe God has expressly condemned sexual intercourse outside of the marriage covenant. This prohibition applies to married persons committing adultery, unmarried heterosexual relationships, and any form of homosexual relationship. It is God’s expectation that the unmarried shall live pure and celibate lives, refraining from sexual intimacy (Leviticus 18:22; Deuteronomy 23:17; Romans 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9). Because of the serious consequences unrepentant sexual sin can have on ministry, faculty, students and staff members who disagree with this policy or who do not conform their conduct to it are expected to resign their relationship with STS or they will be dismissed."

Shorter University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• October 2011 - Shorter University faculty leaving over new lifestyle statements; one employee speaks out
• May 2012 - Shorter University’s ‘Personal Lifestyle Statement’ Which Bans Gay Employees Leads To Faculty Exodus
• January 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• May 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• February 2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "In student life, we also regard sex at birth as the identification of the given biological sex of each member of our constituency. Any blurring of the boundary between maleness and femaleness, such as identifying oneself as a transvestite, transsexual, or transgendered, is contrary to biblical standards. We must view the actions or intentions of those seeking fundamental changes of any kind from one’s sex at birth as a rejection of the biblical and theological understandings to which Shorter University is committed, and hence as grounds for removal from consideration for student employment /or from consideration for enrollment for a student applicant, and as grounds for termination of employment for a current employee (faculty or staff) and/or termination of enrollment of a current student. The same is true for persistent or exaggerated examples of cross- dressing, or other expressions or actions that are deliberately discordant with birth sex."
  • The handbook also states that homosexuality may result in suspension or expulsion. 

Simpson University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• October 2013 – Title IX exemption request filed
• May 2014 – Title IX exemption granted
• May 2016 - Senate bill says religion no excuse for LGBT discrimination
• August 2016 - Simpson unlikely to be sued for LGBT discrimination after bill change, school says
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that: "Simpson University affirms the biblical guidelines that all sexual relationships are expected to be within the context of a faithful heterosexual marriage. Using the biblical guidelines of heterosexual marriage and sexuality (including the honoring of physical, emotional and spiritual intimacy as a reflection of God's covenant of love for us) as a reference point, inappropriate sexual conduct (including, but not limited to; intercourse, oral sex, transgender behavior, homosexual expressions of physical intimacy, genital contact and undressing) is subject to discipline, which is administered in a caring and redemptive manner. Each situation is evaluated separately, taking into consideration the individuals and circumstances uniquely involved, so that the help provided is loving, beneficial, and promotes growth in the individuals involved."

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• December 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• August 2016 - Eight Carolinas colleges included on ‘Shame List’ for LGBT discrimination
• August 2017 - SEBTS employees, including president, sign Nashville Statement
• 2022- Doctrinal Statement states that:
  • "Consistent with our desire to teach and model a biblical approach to sex, SEBTS prohibits the practice or any form of private or public advocacy for the idea that sex outside of a biblically defined marriage is morally acceptable (including the affirmation or participation in same-sex or transgendered dating or marriage advocacy, participation, and/or other related behaviors)."
  • "Based on these affirmations, we believe that premarital sex, extramarital sex, homosexual activity, and transgendered behaviors violate clear biblical teaching on sexual purity (Gen. 1:26-28; Gen. 2:15-25; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:18-20; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5-6). Therefore, behavior inconsistent with these Biblical standards contradicts the values of our covenant community and is prohibited even when consensual."
  • "WE DENY that God has designed marriage to be a homosexual, polygamous, or polyamorous relationship. We also deny that marriage is a mere human contract rather than a covenant made before God... WE DENY that adopting a homosexual or transgender self-conception is consistent with God’s holy purposes in creation and redemption... WE AFFIRM that it is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness... WE DENY that the approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christians should agree to disagree... WE AFFIRM that the grace of God in Christ enables sinners to forsake transgender self- conceptions and by divine forbearance to accept the God-ordained link between one’s biological sex and one’s self-conception as male or female."
• 2022-2023 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "Consistent with our desire to teach and model a biblical approach to sex, SEBTS prohibits the practice or any form of private or public advocacy for the idea that sex outside of a biblically defined marriage is morally acceptable (including the affirmation or participation in same-sex or transgendered dating or marriage advocacy, participation, and/or other related behaviors)."
  • "Based on these affirmations, we believe that premarital sex, extramarital sex, homosexual activity, and transgendered behaviors violate clear biblical teaching on sexual purity (Gen. 1:26-28; Gen. 2:15-25; Rom. 1:26-27; 1 Cor. 6:18-20; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5-6). Therefore, behavior inconsistent with these Biblical standards contradicts the values of our covenant community and is prohibited even when consensual."

Southeastern University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX in order to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• October 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• August 2016 – Southeastern University provides further information regarding exemption
• January 2017 - Title IX exemption granted
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Southern Evangelical Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because its president signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• June 2016 - TRUMP EVANGELICAL BOARD STACKED WITH ANTI-LGBT ACTIVISTS
• August 2017 - SES president signs Nashville Statement
• 2020–2021 - Student Handbook states that: "Since conditions of our day focus on certain issues, we take note also that the Bible not only forbids “drunkenness” (Prov. 20:1 cf. 23:30–32) and homosexual acts, declaring: “Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God”"

Southern Nazarene University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• November 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• January 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• 2022 - Student Handbook states that: "5. We value sexual purity and the sanctity of Christian marriage; therefore, abstaining from sexual immorality (including, but not limited to, premarital or extramarital sex, other immoral sexual activity, and homosexual behavior) is expected."

Southern Virginia University has qualified for the Worst List because it has a past and recent history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and specifically advocated as part of a 2019 amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender.

Campus History 

• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Southern Wesleyan University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of gender identity, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• May 2013 - Professor fired for supporting LGBT student group
• January 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• March 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• August 2015 - Why same-sex ruling has SC’s religious-based schools fearing loss of tax exemption
• August 2016 - Eight Carolinas colleges included on ‘Shame List’ for LGBT discrimination
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• October 2019 - Some SC colleges exempt from anti-discrimination law, leaving LGBTQ students vulnerable
• April 2023 - Handful of Colleges Hold Out, Push Back on Cultural Marxism on Campus

Southwest Baptist University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• April 2010 - Soulforce Equality Ride comes to SBU
• July 2015 – Title IX exemption request filed
• July 2015 – Title IX exemption granted
• July/August 2019 - Amicus brief in Bostock v. Clayton County to allow employment discrimination at religious institutions because an employee is gay or transgender. The amicus brief from the campus argued that LGBTQ discrimination was allowed under the Title VII of the Civil  Rights Act of 1964 because it does not and should not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.
• March 2021 - 25 faith-based schools named in LGBTQ discrimination case against Department of Education

Southwestern Assemblies of God University has qualified for the Worst List because it holds an exemption to Title IX, allowing the college to discriminate against its students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy or receipt of abortion while still receiving federal funds.

Campus History

• January 2008 - 3 Soulforce Equality Riders arrested on SAGU campus
• January 2016 – Title IX exemption request filed
• August 2016 – Title IX exemption granted
• August 2016 - 9 Texas colleges rank among the 'absolute worst' for LGBT students, gay rights group says
• September 2016 - SAGU releases statement regarding Campus Pride ‘Shame List’
• 2021-2022 - Student Handbook states that:
  • "We avoid the following in view of scriptural values and principles concerning living lives of worship unto God, which includes all breaks and holidays and whether the student or employee is on or off campus: Any Scripturally prohibited sexual behavior including: adultery, fornication, any physical contact producing sexual stimulation, homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism, or romanticized same-sex relationships, visiting sexually oriented businesses, sexting through email, text, cellphone, digital apps or any other form of communication (see page 57)."
  • "The University believes that God created mankind in His image, both male and female (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4-5.) We further believe that God established an individual’s gender at birth. Any advocacy, expressions of sentiment or practices otherwise are out of harmony with the religious convictions of SAGU. Thus transgenderism is disapproved. The same standard applies to all administration, faculty, staff, and students."
  • "SAGU does not support any Scripturally prohibited sexual behavior as described in Exodus 20:14; Proverbs 6:32; Matthew 5:27- 28; Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:21-23; Romans 13:9; I Timothy 1:8-11; and I Corinthians 6:13, 6:18 including: adultery, fornication (which by scriptural definition encompasses intercourse and oral sex), any physical contact producing sexual stimulation, homosexuality, lesbianism, transgenderism, visiting sexually oriented businesses, sexting, (i.e. creating or sending images or videos of a sexual nature via email, text, cellphone or any other form of communication) (see Galatians 5:19-21; I Thessalonians 4:3; Romans 1:24-32; and Hebrews 13:4). Students may not engage in romanticized same-sex relationships or be engaged in any sexual relationships. Any student struggling with same-sex attraction is encouraged to seek counseling at the Student Counseling center."

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has qualified for the Worst List because members of its staff signed onto the Nashville Statement condemning LGBTQ people and using religion-based bigotry to perpetuate stereotypes and harm toward LGBTQ youth.

Campus History

• August 2017 - SWBTS staff sign Nashville Statement
• November 2017 - This Anti-LGBT Conference in Fort Worth Opened With a Rainbow Flag Dance
• December 2019 - Statement on Southwestern Seminary’s Commitment to Biblical Sexuality states that: "Our faculty – including our president – regularly teach on God’s design for the family and marriage and the biblical sexual ethic, which homosexuality is in rebellion against."
• July 2021 - Code of Conduct states that: "Examples of prohibitive behavior includes: The engagement in a lifestyle contrary to Biblical standards including, but not limited to, heterosexual misconduct, homosexual or bisexual behavior, transgenderism or any other form of sexual misconduct."
• 2022 - Beliefs Statement states: "In the spirit of Christ, Christian’s should oppose racism, every form of greed, selfishness, and vice, and all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography."