By The Editorial Board
The latest display of the danger of misinformation struck close to home for Baylor students.
In light of Baylor’s request to the Department of Education to affirm existing religious exemptions from Title IX, the Religious Exemption Accountability Project took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram to express its frustration. In the roar of social media, the posts went viral and sparked outrage from many in the Baylor community. On X, it has garnered over 2.6 million views, almost 5,000 likes, nearly 2,400 reposts, more than 1,600 quotes and almost 1,000 bookmarks. Meanwhile, on Instagram, it has received over 4,400 likes and been shared widely on Instagram stories.
The posts were less about informing and more about inflaming, claiming the LGBTQ+ community was no longer protected at Baylor as a result of the exemptions. Students immediately pounced on the opportunity to share it across their social media platforms, and media outlets jumped on the story too. However, much of the posts’ content misrepresented the realities of the university’s exemptions.
The first slide in the Instagram post reads, “The U.S. Department of Education just granted Baylor University a Title IX exemption for sexual harassment … Because of course they did.” Right from the cover, REAP clearly shared a biased message that many simply took as fact.
The following slide reads, “This is the FIRST TIME that a university has requested a religious exemption to permit sexual harassment, and the FIRST TIME the Department of Education has granted such a request.” However, the exemptions were actually already in place, and the request was simply for a renewal.
Additionally, the Instagram post either bolds, underlines or circles the words “sexual harassment” on a majority of slides, focusing on creating a shock factor instead of sticking to the facts.
The letters between President Linda Livingstone and the DOE came ahead of the Biden administration’s October expansion of the definition of Title IX, which “will strengthen protections for LGBTQI+ students who face discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.” After a thorough investigation, the DOE affirmed Baylor’s existing religious exemptions from any requirements about sexual orientation under Title IX since they contradict its established Baptist doctrine.
In 2021, REAP filed a class action lawsuit, which included two former Baylor students, “demanding the U.S. Department of Education to stop granting religious exemptions to taxpayer-funded religious colleges and universities that discriminate against and abuse their LGBTQ students.” The organization took Baylor’s filed exemptions and manipulated the facts to bolster its case.
Several days later, Livingstone issued a statement clarifying that the exemptions do not and will not impact how Baylor handles sexual harassment cases.
“There will be NO CHANGES to Baylor’s current practices or policies related to sexual harassment and other forms of sexual and interpersonal conduct resulting from this assertion of our existing religious exemptions,” the statement reads.
Students cannot and will never be able to assault or harass members of the LGBTQ+ community and get away with it at Baylor.
The university’s commitment to traditional Christian beliefs has never been in question. Baylor has said these exemptions aren’t about discriminating against or targeting the LGBTQ+ community; they’re about affirming “the biblical understanding of sexuality as a gift from God” and demanding “purity in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman as the biblical norm.”
The bottom line is that REAP blew the situation out of proportion and spread a false narrative to gain traction for an ongoing lawsuit.
As consumers of social media, our job is to investigate and comprehend what we share on our platforms thoughtfully. Unfortunately, the online world allows a flow of misinformation that can mislead and harm many people, even when those pushing the content think they have good intentions.
As a result of the posts, which were certainly alarming on first read, LGBTQ+ students experienced heightened concern about what life would look like for them in the future at Baylor. It was unacceptable of REAP to frame the situation in such an inflammatory, agenda-driven manner that misled the community it’s supposed to represent — especially when it comes to topics as sensitive as Title IX protections.
Next time you see a social media bandwagon, stop and consider the facts before adding to the fearmongering.
Lariat Assistant News Editor Sydney Matthews, the reporter covering the Title IX religious exemptions, is a member of the Editorial Board but was not a part of this editorial.
