UGA, Georgia Southern remove LGBTQ language from nondiscrimination policy

Credit: Lamba Legal

Credit: Lamba Legal

Both schools said they made the changes to align their language with the University System of Georgia’s, which oversees the state’s 26 public universities and updated its own policy last fall. The USG’s previous policy was only one sentence long, saying that it prohibited unlawful discrimination “based on any characteristic protected by law.”

Its new policy, approved by the USG’s Board of Regents in November, reads in part that the board “prohibits discrimination on the basis of an individual’s age, color, disability, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or veteran status.” The new UGA and Georgia Southern policies both copied that same language.

In an emailed statement, the USG said it made last year’s changes to “align more directly” with federal statutes, including Title VI, Title VII and Title IX. “The revisions reaffirm existing protections, ensuring that all students and employees remain safeguarded from discrimination or preferential treatment based on legally protected characteristics — such as race and sex — to the full extent of federal and state law in all aspects of campus life,” it said. While USG schools must align with the board policy, they “may use more specific language.”

Some of metro Atlanta’s largest public universities — such as Georgia Tech, Georgia Gwinnett College and Georgia State University — still include gender identity and sexual orientation in their policies. Kennesaw State University’s policy mentions sexual orientation.

President Donald Trump has issued multiple executive orders with implications for LGBTQ Americans. In one of them, he directed the Department of Education to rescind a Biden-era document that interpreted Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination “to encompass discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.” The Biden administration policy was not legally sound and has harmed women, the executive order said.

Many UGA community members became aware of the update last week. As word spread on social media, UGA president Jere Morehead sent out a campuswide email on Friday afternoon. “This change has not altered the manner in which UGA reviews or investigates complaints involving all forms of discrimination and harassment,” he wrote. “UGA policy continues to forbid all forms of discrimination and harassment prohibited under federal law.”

Nevins, who is based in Atlanta, said the decision has him scratching his head. A university should try to prevent harassment on campus, he said. Written policies can help achieve that while also keeping the university from being legally liable.

“What’s really baffling is why you would take out those words,” he said. “Because it would seem to risk liability by potentially sending the message to people, ‘Oh, that’s now OK to do.’”

In an emailed statement, Georgia Southern said it continues to follow all applicable laws “to prevent, stop and remedy unlawful harassment or discrimination of any kind within our jurisdiction.”

But Nevins said that may now be harder to do. If a student is accused of harassing an LGBTQ classmate, the accused could push back against any disciplinary proceedings, arguing that such harassment is not mentioned in school policy. Moreover, a clear policy can put everyone on the same page about what is and isn’t allowed on campus.

“It is true that LGBT people want to have a cause of action and an ability to fight back if they experience sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination,” Nevins said. “But what they really want is not to experience it in the first place.”