Judge weighs Minnesota law that bans religious tests for colleges participating in state program

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 4:00 PM EST, December 9, 2024


MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge is considering whether to overturn a Minnesota law that bans religious tests for colleges that participate in a state program that allows high school students to take college courses for credit.

The state argued at a hearing Monday that the 2023 law rightly protects high school students who are not Christian, straight, and cisgender — those whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth.

The law targets the state’s only two conservative Christian colleges that require students to sign statements of faith — Crown College in St. Bonifacius and the University of Northwestern in Roseville. A group of parents and high schoolers who are earning college credits at those institutions, or would like to, are suing to overturn the law, saying it violates their religious freedom under the First Amendment to choose schools with campus atmospheres that that reflect their values.

The longstanding Minnesota Postsecondary Enrollment Options program lets high school students earn free credits at state expense at public or private colleges of their choice, although the courses must be nonsectarian. Around 60,000 students have taken advantage of it. State education officials learned more than a decade ago that Crown and Northwestern in Roseville bar students who aren’t Christian or who are LGBTQ+ from campus activities, and started trying to change the law regulating the program.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/religious-freedom-schools-lgbtq-discrimination-e583fbf1bb0f32c869d7ad0dd730ad93

[dsc]

1. I think it is crap

but the religious schools will likely win this. I hope I am wrong but fear that I am not.

[spooky3]

2. I don't see how this type of discrimination differs from

Race based discrimination, for example. Would the court overturn a ban on universities’ engaging in that?

[dsc]

4. Likely not

but you never know. But this court clearly considers discrimination against LGBT to be more acceptable. It is clear they favor religious rights over the rights of LGBT people.

[Timeflyer]

3. If the schools want the sweet state money, they must play by the rules (until we go full christian theocracy).