WASHINGTON, DC – Today, America First Legal (AFL) Foundation filed an Amicus Brief in the case of College of the Ozarks v. Biden, et al.  AFL’s brief, filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, calls on the court to protect religious liberty and the rule of law by striking down a recent unlawful directive from the Biden Administration’s U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which would, among other things, require the College of the Ozarks and other universities to open girls’ dormitories to men who believe that they are women.

On January 20, 2021, the Biden Administration issued Executive Order 13988 directing federal agencies to elevate sexual orientation, gender identity, and “overlapping discrimination” over religious  liberty, the First Amendment, and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  On February 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a “directive” declaring that the Fair Housing Act’s prohibition on sex discrimination includes “discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity.”  The purpose and effect of this “directive”—issued without prior public notice or comment—are to weaponize intersectional theories of “gender identity” and discrimination to target religious believers and their institutions for government investigation, enforcement, and punishment.  

Read the full Brief here.