A Democratic congresswoman said that she would out religious colleges and universities that asked for exemptions to anti-discrimination rules that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students. Passing the bill into a law would require the Department of Education to reveal the list of schools that requested for Title IX exemptions.
The bill, known as the Transparency in Taxpayer-Funded Discrimination Act, will expose colleges and universities that have asked for Title IX exemptions. Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation and gender identity in the U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark plans to expose such acts in the name of religious freedom, according to Huffington Post.
The bill would require the U.S. Department of Education to state which higher education institutions cited their religious principles as a reason to exempt themselves from the provision that denied people benefits on the basis of sex. Schools that receive the exemptions are able to turn away LGBT students not only in admissions but also in financial aid, sports teams, housing, campus counseling and clubs.
The bill comes as the Department of Education is already pledging to reveal which other schools applied to get the Title IX exemption. On Friday, the Department of Education released a list of faith-based higher education institutions that asked for the exemption since April 26 this year, according to Parent Herald.
Nearly 56 colleges and universities received a waiver of exception since 2013 leaving thousands of students vulnerable to discrimination without even knowing it. Officials from the department said that they plan to release the names of schools every month. They also said that there is a longer list of schools that applied for exemptions before 2009.
If the bill becomes a law, the Department of Education would be required to reveal the names of the schools even after the end of the Obama administration in 2017. In addition, schools that requested for Title IX exemptions would need to make the information public in their websites.
Clark said that she finds it shocking yet disheartening to still fight discrimination against LGBT in 2016. Most of the schools that applied for Title IX exemptions have religious affiliations despite being private institutions that accept public money in terms of financial aid, student loads and grants.
