Federal court denies Bangor church’s request for injunction in tuition lawsuit (2024)

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Maine’s anti-discrimination laws will not be indefinitely suspended while a Bangor church challenges the stipulation in Maine’s Human Rights Act that prohibits schools receiving state funding from discriminating based on gender identity, sexual orientation and religion.

U.S. District Court Judge John Woodco*ck reinforced his original decision denying the request. He reasserted that the Humans Rights Act does not violate Crosspoint Church’s constitutional rights and it is subsequently unwarranted to temporarily bar the law because the church’s case is unlikely to succeed in a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Crosspoint Church, which runs Bangor Christian Schools, originally sued Maine Education Commissioner Pender Makin and five members of the Maine Human Rights Commission because of a new anti-discrimination law. In 2021, Maine lawmakers amended the state’s Human Rights Acts to say that religious schools have to comply with its rules on sexual orientation and gender identity to receive state funding.

Crosspoint Church has a policy barring students from identifying as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth, and dress-code requirements on wearing clothing according to the gender they were assigned at birth.

The original lawsuit challenging Crosspoint’s ineligibility for state funding has worked its way to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The church’s lawsuit came roughly a year after theU.S. Supreme Court struck down Maine’s banon giving public funds to religious schools. That decision applied specifically to a small program for students in towns without a public high school who receive state money to attend a public or private school of their choosing.

Woodco*ck originally denied the preliminary injunction, a request to temporarily halt the state law, in February. Crosspoint Church asked the court to revaluate that decision based on new evidence it brought forth. That evidence included Bangor Christian Schools’ application for admission, which requires that prospective students and parents agree to abide by the school’s Student/Parent Handbook, including a requirement that students comply with its statement of faith. Woodco*ck said that the handbook did not impact the outcome of the case before him.

While this case does not determine the constitutionality of Maine’s laws, Woodco*ck’s rulings are some of the first to address the merits of what will likely be a long legal battle by Crosspoint Church against the state.

The Texas-based First Liberty Institute, the conservative, Christian legal nonprofit representing Crosspoint, said it would continue to pursue the case.

“We look forward to continuing with the case and restoring BCS’s right to participate equally in the Maine tuitioning program without facing religious discrimination,” said Lea Patterson, First Liberty’s senior counsel.

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