Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the law firm representing the private Christian college in Point Lookout, Missouri, explains that by requiring entities covered by the Fair Housing Act to not "discriminate" based on sexual orientation or gender identity, a directive from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development forces religious schools to open their dorm rooms and shared shower spaces to members of the opposite sex, which violates their beliefs.
The College of the Ozarks filed its lawsuit against President Biden's directive on April 15th. In May, a federal district court denied the college's motion for an injunction and a temporary restraining order, which could have provided temporary protection for the school while its federal court case pends.
"We will not let a radical executive order or agency directive strip us of our core religious values and force us to allow members of the opposite sex to infiltrate our women's dorms and showers," said College of the Ozarks President Jerry C. Davis in June following the school's appeal to the Eighth Circuit. "This was done without any input by Congress or the public. The Biden administration overstepped the boundaries of our constitutionally protected religious freedoms."
A court hearing at the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled for November 17th.
