Title IX and Recipients

In this chapter you will learn about the Title IX and find out who can get a Title IX waiver.

In the United States, there is a law called Title IX which prohibits the discrimination of sex in the education system. Originally, the law was written to prevent educational institutions from discriminating against women who were not being accepted and hired by these universities because of their gender. Recently, the Title IX has been extended to cover those who identify as a different gender then that which was assigned at birth and to those who do not conform to stereotypical gender roles. This new interpretation gave rights to millions of students who identify as LGBTQ. When they wrote this law in 1972, they included a small, yet powerful clause. This clause states that private institutions backed by a religion are exempt from the law in whole.

            According to Nick Anderson, a reporter for The Washington Post, since 2013 around thirty-three universities have requested and were granted Title IX exemptions in order to bypass discrimination based on identified gender and/or sexual orientation. Those in favor for the end to religious exemptions for Title IX make a powerful argument. This argument begins with the question, “Why should we allow schools to discriminate against anyone because of religion?” They call-out these institutions for their lack of empathy when it comes to students who identify among the LGBTQ spectrum. Specifically, Paul Southwick, an attorney responding to the exemptions, presents a strong argument against these exemptions by claiming that while Title IX has done many great things to protect the LGBTQ community, it is being torn apart by the “very institutions where students need those protections the most” (Birkey).