LGBT activists apply financial lever to Christian colleges

Each week, The World and Everything in It features a “Culture Friday” segment, in which Executive Producer Nick Eicher discusses the latest cultural news with John Stonestreet, president of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Here is a summary of this week’s conversation.

Ever since the Obama administration extended Title IX rights to LGBT students, Christian schools have been requesting waivers to maintain rules for housing and lifestyle that reflect their traditional values. Following demands from a gay rights group, the Department of Education in January created a public database listing colleges that applied for the waivers.

Now Campus Pride, an LGBT activist group, is pressuring the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to cut ties with Christian colleges over their view on transgenderism and homosexuality. Campus Pride timed its request to coincide with one of the NCAA’s most-watched events—March Madness. The NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship generates 90 percent of the organization’s yearly revenue, and Campus Pride has leveraged the publicity to increase pressure on the organization.

“This is clearly part of the next stage in what is an attack on Christian colleges having any sort of traditional views when it comes to sexuality,” John Stonestreet said this week. “And it’s going to be very difficult.”

Last year, the NCAA staked its claim in the debate by threatening to cancel planned March Madness games in Indiana when the state passed its Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

“LGBT activists have found themselves very adept at using financial levers,” Stonestreet said.

The pressure on Christian colleges follows a larger trend of redefining freedom of religion in the United States, Stonestreet added.

“The way that freedom of religion is being defined, it basically is within your house of worship and only serving people who share those convictions. None of those [college] programs meet those requirements,” Stonestreet said. “I think Christian college boards right now have got to come up with alternative strategies both in funding, accreditation and all kinds of other things. … But it will be a real shame because Christian colleges right now are providing one of the last intellectually honest environments.”

Listen to “Culture Friday” on The World and Everything in It.