US Department of Education drops Title IX complaint against BYU
The United States Education Department has dismissed an anti-LGBTQ+ complaint against Brigham Young University (BYU). Last year, the Utah-based university removed a longstanding rule that banned “all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings.”.
But shortly after LGBTQ+ students celebrated the overdue change, school officials removed any semblance of acceptance, stating that same-sex relationships were “not compatible” with BYU rules and regulations.
The school’s response led to an extensive Title IX investigation regarding its treatment of its LGBTQ+ students. On 8 February, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) sent a letter to BYU’s president stating that even though the school is “subject to Title IX”, it’s also exempt from its regulations due to the school’s Mormon background.
Title IX, which was passed in 1972, is a law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any schools that receive federal funding.
