By Karen Sloan, From The National Law Journal

Brigham Young University has been hit with a complaint claiming that the law school’s expulsion of ex-Mormons violates the American Bar Association’s nondiscrimination rules.

A group of university alumni called FreeBYU filed the complaint with the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar against Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School alleging that the university’s policy of kicking out students who leave the Mormon faith runs afoul of its rules meant to protect against religious discrimination.

FreeBYU has also asked the ABA to examine whether the university honor code, which bans homosexual behavior, violates the accreditor’s protections of gay, lesbian and transgender students.

The group formed in 2013 to push university administrators to end the policy of banning ex-Mormons from campus. It began raising similar criticisms of the honor code’s impact on homosexual students in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage, spokesman Brad Levine said.

Mary Hoagland, the law school’s assistant dean for external relations, said in a prepared statement that the school has provided additional information to the ABA in response to FreeBYU’s complaint. “We have been accredited by the ABA since 1974 and are confident that we continue to meet ABA standards,” Hoagland said.

Barry Currier, the ABA’s managing director of accreditation and legal education, on Tuesday acknowledged receipt of FreeBYU’s complaint but declined to comment on the status of the investigation, citing ABA policy. “It’s not going to be resolved in the very near future,” Currier said, adding that the ABA committees tasked with reviewing law school accreditation matters meet infrequently. If the law school is found to have violated its standards, the ABA will issue a public sanction, Currier said.

The university is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Non-Mormons are allowed to attend—paying higher tuition than Mormons—but students who leave the Mormon faith can be expelled.

FreeBYU wants ex-Mormons to be treated the same way as students of other faiths, said Levin, who graduated from the university with a duel degree in law and public administration in 2011.

Homosexual students or those leaving the LDS church now have to hide their identities and feelings from their friends, bishops (as leaders of local Mormon congregations are known) and even roommates lest they risk losing on-campus jobs, housing and student status, Levin said.

“I don’t hear any acknowledgement from the administrators of the impact these policies have on students,” Levin said. “They experience depression, isolation, stress and anxiety because they feel like they can’t be themselves. This is not a victimless policy.”

Levin said he was nearly expelled in his final year at BYU after writing a book on the legality of same-sex marriage. Though he supports same-sex marriage, Levin, who is heterosexual, said he was pressured to hide his position in order to remain on campus and collect his diploma. “I didn’t expect for my academic freedom to be so limited,” said Levin, who describes himself as a “lapsed Mormon.”

The ABA’s nondiscrimination standard prohibits law schools from taking any actions that preclude the admission or retention of students on the basis of “race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability.” It is currently weighing the addition of “gender identity” to that list.

The existing standard allows religiously affiliated law schools to give preference to applicants and faculty of that faith, though they cannot use religion as grounds to shut out applicants. Religious law schools are given some flexibility under the standards, however. A school affiliated with a religion that opposes homosexuality is not required to support LGBT organizations, for example.

The ABA is also considering modifying its diversity and inclusion standards to state that schools must provide “an environment in which diversity and inclusion are welcomed and embraced.”

IMAGE: Brigham Young University. Credit: Jaren Wilkey/BYU via Wikimedia Commons

 For more on this story go to: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202748012459/Treatment-of-ExMormons-and-Gays-Spurs-Complaint-Against-BYU#ixzz3yTGCOx1A