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# LGBTQ+ students file lawsuit against US government
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/lgbtq-students-file-lawsuit-against-us-government/
- Published: 2021-04-02T13:30:02.000Z
- Updated: 2021-04-02T11:56:09.000Z
- Description: 33 students are calling for the government will stop funding anti-LGBTQ+ religious schools.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Politics, Queer Corner, LGBTQ, LGBTQ+ discrimination, LGBTQ+ rights, US

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/white-house-600-400.jpg)

A group of LGBTQ+ **US** 33 students have sued the White House, in collaboration with the **Religious Exemption Accountability Project** (REAP), with the hope the government will stop providing federal funding to religious schools which discriminate against queer students. REAP [announced](https://www.thereap.org/press-release?ref=scenemag.co.uk) that it filed the lawsuit on **March 30**, saying it *“asks a federal court to declare that the religious exemption to Title IX…is unconstitutional.”*

Title IX is federal civil rights law which prohibits sex-based discrimination but allows for exemption on the basis of religious views. The lawsuit argues it is *“a violation of the First Amendment’s prohibition on the establishment of religion and a violation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments’ guarantee of Equal Protection under the law for LGBTQ+ Americans.”*

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/end-discrimination-lgbt-600-400.jpg)

All 33 of the students attended religious schools and reported experiencing discrimination. **Elizabeth Hunter**, a gay plantiff who recently graduated from **Bob Jones University**, said the institution she attended is a *“toxic for LGBTQ+ people”*, adding : *“Homophobia among the student body, faculty and administration is rampant…I am participating in this lawsuit because I am hopeful that things will change. Experiencing hate and discrimination should not be a part of attending college.”*

Another queer plaintiff, **Veronica Bonifacio Penales** who attends **Baylor University** in **Texas**, said she is frequently subjected to homophobic harassment on campus: *“I am participating in this lawsuit because I want Baylor to realize what it is doing is wrong and harmful. There is no excuse for ostracising, discriminating against, and hurting their students.”*

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/make-america-gay-again-lgbt-600-400.jpg)