By Thomas Catenacci
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that students of the opposite sex must be allowed to share shower facilities and dorms at a Christian college in Missouri.
Judge Roseann Ketchmark ruled against the College of the Ozarks, a Christian college that had sued President Joe Biden’s administration over its transgender policies.
The college had challenged a Jan. 20 executive order preventing schools from denying children access to bathrooms of their choosing.
“Women shouldn’t be forced to share private spaces, including showers and dorm rooms, with males, and religious schools shouldn’t be punished simply because of their beliefs about biological sex,” Julie Marie Blake, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, told reporters following the ruling.
“The Biden administration’s overreach continues to victimize women, girls and people of faith by gutting their legal protections, and it must be stopped,” she continued.
The College of the Ozarks filed the lawsuit against Biden and the Department of Housing and Urban Development in April.
The school had argued that the government cannot force a private religious school to place males in female dormitories.
The college faces six-figure fines if it violates the Biden administration’s order.
“While we are disappointed in today’s ruling, we expect to appeal so that schools are not forced to open girls’ dorms to males and violate their religious beliefs,” College of the Ozarks official Valerie Coleman said.
“We will continue to fight,” she said.
