Evangelical leaders seek Haley’s help on transgender issue

The presidents of seven evangelical Christian colleges want S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley to protect institutions like theirs from mandates on the use of bathrooms by transgender students.

In a letter Monday, the presidents of schools, including Bob Jones University in Greenville and Columbia International University in Columbia, ask the Republican to use her platform to “promote religious freedom.”

The presidents specifically cited as a threat a California proposal that would deny college students in that state the ability to take part in grant programs if their schools were found in violation of California’s gender-identity policies. The California proposal would have no weight in South Carolina.

However, the presidents also warn mandates like the Obama Administration’s order requiring public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms consistent with their chosen gender identity could violate “the privacy and modesty of students” who object based on religious values.

A federal judge has blocked the administration’s order. The judge ruled federal education law “is not ambiguous” about sex being defined as “the biological and anatomical differences between male and female students as determined at their birth.”

Also, among the presidents signing the letter were the heads of Anderson University, Charleston Southern University, Erskine College, North Greenville University and Southern Wesleyan University.

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 3:55 PM.