{"id":2629470,"date":"2026-07-14T08:29:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T12:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-allows-maine-to-discriminate-against-christian-schools-for-biblical-standards-on-gender-sexuality\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T08:34:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T12:34:50","slug":"court-allows-maine-to-discriminate-against-christian-schools-for-biblical-standards-on-gender-sexuality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/court-allows-maine-to-discriminate-against-christian-schools-for-biblical-standards-on-gender-sexuality\/","title":{"rendered":"Court Allows Maine to Discriminate against Christian Schools for Biblical Standards on Gender, Sexuality"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourt-allows-maine-to-discriminate-against-christian-schools-for-biblical-standards-on-gender-sexuality%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2629470&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The provided content includes a mixture of webpage code,scripts,and an article about recent legal and societal challenges faced by Christian schools in Maine regarding adherence to pro-LGBT regulations tied to state-funded tuition assistance programs. The article reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld Maine&#8217;s regulations requiring Christian schools to comply with anti-discrimination rules based on sexual orientation and gender identity if they want to participate in public funding programs. This decision restricts religious institutions&#8217; ability to enforce biblical standards on sexuality and gender, leading to concerns about the violation of religious freedom. The case involves schools like Bangor Christian School (BCS) and a Catholic school, questioning whether state rules violate the free Exercise Clause of the first Amendment. The legal battle traces back to a 2022 Supreme Court ruling that deemed Maine&#8217;s prior exclusion of christian schools from a tuition aid program unconstitutional. Despite amendments to accommodate religious schools, recent rulings continue to challenge their religious practices, with the courts adopting a neutrality test that critics argue undermines religious protections. the article features perspectives from legal advocates emphasizing the importance of religious liberty and expresses anticipation of further legal action.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>In a setback for religious freedom, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled last Thursday that Christian schools in Maine must comply with pro-LGBT regulations that conflict with their religious beliefs, if they want to participate in a public tuition assistance program. \u201cEssentially what the court has said is that you can believe what you want to believe, you can talk about what you believe, but once you exercise what you believe, that\u2019s conduct that the state of Maine can regulate,\u201d said Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, which brought the lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/firstliberty.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Crosspoint.pdf\">Crosspoint Church v. Makin<\/a>, a two-judge panel (one judge died before the opinion was issued) partially upheld a lower court order denying a preliminary injunction against Maine\u2019s pro-LGBT regulations. Crosspoint Church runs Bangor Christian School (BCS). The court decided a second lawsuit featuring a Catholic school (<a href=\"https:\/\/becketfund.org\/case\/st-dominic-academy-v-makin\/\">St. Dominic Academy v. Makin<\/a>) on the same day, on almost identical grounds.<\/p>\n<p>BCS holds employees and students to basic biblical standards for gender and sexuality, and requires teachers to ascribe to a statement of faith. But those standards run afoul of provisions in the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA), which Maine now applies to schools seeking to participate in its tuition assistance program. \u201cA private school that participates in the tuition-assistance program and then violates the MHRA exposes itself to civil suits from both the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) and private alleged victims, with remedies including injunctive relief and monetary damages,\u201d the court described.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the MHRA \u201c\u2018Religious Nondiscrimination Rule\u2019 bars covered schools from discriminating in admissions, financial aid, academics, and the like on the basis of religion,\u201d as the court described, and its \u201c\u2018Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Rule\u2019 bars discrimination in all the same activities on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity but exempts religious schools that do not receive public funding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In practice, this rule would have the effect of preventing BCS\u2019s attempts to enforce its biblical norms of sexuality and gender, Dys told The Washington Stand. For instance, if a male student identified as transgender and wished to use the female restrooms and locker rooms, BCS could not enforce its policies against him without violating the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Rule. \u201cWhen the state of Maine presents this sort of regulation on conduct, it creates a real problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the court concluded the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Nondiscrimination Rule \u201cworks no constitutional violation.\u201d It also held that \u201ccertain of BCS\u2019s policies\u201d violated the Religious Nondiscrimination Rule, including \u201cchurch member discounts\u201d and \u201cconsideration of \u2018prospective students\u2019 spiritual fit.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Besides these rules, the MHRA also establishes an \u201cEmployment Rule\u201d that \u201cbars employment discrimination based on \u2018race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin or familial status,\u2019\u201d as the court described. With regard to this rule, the court partially reversed the district court, finding that Crosspoint Church fell into a carveout in the rule, thereby eliminating the \u201ccase or controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the MHRA\u2019s \u201cReligious Expression Rule\u201d stipulates that, \u201cto the extent that an educational institution permits religious expression, it cannot discriminate between religions in so doing.\u201d The court rightly held that \u201cthe Religious Expression Rule unconstitutionally violates Crosspoint\u2019s free-exercise rights\u201d and remanded it to the district court for an injunction.<\/p>\n<p>In the lawsuit, Crosspoint argued that \u201ca set of recent amendments to the MHRA specifically targets BCS, in violation of the Free Exercise Clause,\u201d as the court characterized it, based on a years-long history of litigation.<\/p>\n<p>Maine has offered state tuition assistance to enable parents to send their children to the school of their choice since 1980. However, the program <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/christian-schools-must-follow-lgbt-policies-for-tuition-program.html\">excluded<\/a> Christian schools until 2022, when a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court found the policy unconstitutional in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/21pdf\/20-1088_dbfi.pdf\">Carson v. Makin<\/a>. Parents at BCS were at the center of that case.<\/p>\n<p>Based on its recent decisions in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/16pdf\/15-577_khlp.pdf\">Trinity Lutheran<\/a> (2016) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/19pdf\/18-1195_g314.pdf\">Espinoza v. Montana<\/a> (2019), where government entities tried to block Christian schools from generally available public benefits, the Supreme Court in Carson held that \u201cMaine\u2019s \u2018nonsectarian\u2019 requirement for its otherwise generally available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-rules-maine-cant-ban-taxpayer-funded-tuition-assistance-from-being-used-toward-religious-private-education\/\" title=\"... ...s ... Can...t Ban Taxpayer-Funded Tuition Assistance From Being Used Toward ... Private Education\">tuition assistance payments violates<\/a> the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Regardless of how the benefit and restriction are described, the program operates to identify and exclude otherwise eligible schools on the basis of their religious exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In anticipation of a defeat in front of the Supreme Court, the Maine legislature amended the law in 2021, allowing Christian schools to receive state tuition assistance, but only if they complied with the state\u2019s rules for nondiscrimination towards sexual orientation and gender identity.<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) professed to be scandalized at the very nature of a Christian school. \u201cThe education provided by the schools at issue here is inimical to a public education,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/christian-schools-must-follow-lgbt-policies-for-tuition-program.html\">complained<\/a>. \u201cThey promote a single religion to the exclusion of all others, refuse to admit gay and transgender children, and openly discriminate in hiring teachers and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Frey\u2019s comments came in response to another federal lawsuit filed by Crosspoint Church, alleging that attaching general state funding to LGBT strings amounted to a \u201cpoison pill\u201d for accepting the money. \u201cPutting Plaintiff to the choice of participating in a generally available benefit program or surrendering its constitutionally protected religious exercise penalizes its religious exercise and constitutes a substantial burden,\u201d the lawsuit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/christian-schools-must-follow-lgbt-policies-for-tuition-program.html\">argued<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, the district court refused to view the circumstances in that light, or to apply the recent string of Supreme Court precedents. Instead, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock, a George W. Bush appointee, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/christian-schools-must-follow-lgbt-policies-for-tuition-program.html\">ruled<\/a> in February 2024 that \u201cthe educational anti-discrimination provisions do not violate the Free Exercise Clause because they are neutral, generally applicable, and rationally related to a legitimate government interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This language reached further back to the \u201cneutrality\u201d test established in the Supreme Court\u2019s 1990 ruling in Employment Division v. Smith, the controversial decision that prompted a furious Congress to overwhelmingly pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1991.<\/p>\n<p>Dys contended that both the district court and the appellate court were wrong to rely on the neutrality test in this context, \u201cbecause you can\u2019t simply exclude religious exercise because it\u2019s religious,\u201d he told TWS. \u201cYou have to give full faith and credit to that part of the Constitution,\u201d referring to the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI suspect there\u2019s going to be further action on this case,\u201d he concluded. First Liberty is still reviewing whether to appeal the case to the full First Circuit or directly to the Supreme Court. In either case, Dys said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to seek further review.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are disappointed that though the First Circuit acknowledges that religious institutions can teach what they believe, it would then refuse to allow conduct consistent with those beliefs,\u201d Dys <a href=\"https:\/\/firstliberty.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Crosspoint.pdf\">declared<\/a>. \u201cReligious education plays a critical role in our diverse society, but Maine\u2019s leadership will not tolerate conduct consistent with those religious beliefs. As the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly said, punishing religious institutions for being religious is odious to our Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><em>Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.<\/em><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a blow to religious freedom, the First Circuit ruled last Thursday that Maine Christian schools must follow pro-LGBT rules to access public tuition aid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2629471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/wj-logo.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[5102,35136,56516,82684,32274],"class_list":["post-2629470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-discrimination","tag-education-policy","tag-lgbtq-rights-2","tag-maine-law","tag-religious-freedom"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/wj-logo.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2629470"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2629474,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629470\/revisions\/2629474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2629471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2629470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2629470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2629470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}