Title IX complaint over BYU policy dismissed
Feb 10, 2022, 12:37 PM | Updated: 12:50 pm
Aerial image from Chopper 5 shows student at BYU protesting a clarification to the Honor Code. (KSL TV)
(KSL TV)
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, sometimes called the OCR, dismissed a Title IX complaint filed by a student over LGBTQ policies.
The complaint, originally filed in March 2020, was opened as an investigation by OCR on Oct. 21, 2021 at which point BYU was informed of the complaint.
In response, on November 19, 2021, President of BYU, Kevin J. Worthen, asserted BYU’s religious exemption.
“OCR has previously recognized that, “BYU’s Code of Honor . . . is derived from religious tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ,” and that where “treatment of employees and students would conflict with the religious tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ [of Latter-Day Saints] BYU is granted an exemption from those requirements,” the response states.
The U.S. Department of Education office closed the investigation on Feb. 8, recognizing BYU’s long held religious exemption from “various Title IX provisions to the extent that application of these provisions is not consistent with the religious tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ ‘that pertain to sexual orientation and gender identity,’ ” the document states.
In a release from the school Worthen said, “we simultaneously stand firm in our religious beliefs and reiterate our love and respect for each member of the campus community.”
