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  • M. O. Stevens
The president of a tiny Christian university in Northeast Portland is confused. Back in February, he asked the federal government for formal permission to deny access to transgender students, and he hasn't heard back—even though dozens of other schools have gotten the same permission.

"I don’t understand why it’s taken so long," Multnomah University President G. Craig Williford says. "Why are they being selective?"

Ironic, sure, but it's good to hear from Williford. Last week and the week before, we were calling and e-mailing Multnomah with questions about the school's application for a gender-based Title IX exemption—essentially a federal sanction to discriminate against transgender people. All we got back was a polite "no comment" so we weren't able to include the school's side in our story.

But today, Williford gave us a ring in response to some more questions. He's the person who sent the US Dept. of Education a request for the gender-based exemption earlier this year. In the days since the Mercury reported on the request (KPTV did a piece, too), the school's been the subject of a small protest, and heard from people who have "reacted very negatively," Williford says.

In response to all that, Williford sent out an email to university supporters last week explaining the school's position and handling of the matter. Here's part of it:

Last week a local news channel ran a feature story on our exemption request and accused MU of discrimination. This week a local online newspaper ran an article following this same argument. We have chosen not respond to these accusations. None of this is a surprise to MU leadership. We anticipated and have prepared for these events.

Tomorrow, Saturday December 12, 2015, at 1 pm a protest rally will be held on public areas next to our campus which will likely include local reporters. Communication experts tell us that when these events occur it is best practice to have only one person speak on behalf of the university. Having one person speak to reporters, comment on social media and in other public venues allows trained university personnel with complete information to wisely communicate responses which reflect our mission and values.

The first inaccuracy in Williford's statement is that we're only an online newspaper. (He apologized.) The second comes a bit later, when Williford writes to supporters that "Multnomah University does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation."

What Williford means, he says, is that Multnomah doesn't shunt people out the door if they're gay. The school has students today that are openly gay, he says, and faculty's mostly okay with that. At Multnomah, gay, lesbian, and straight students are all required to practice abstinence and a lot of other behavioral prohibitions (no vaping!). If you're not married, Multnomah's not going to be cool with your sex life no matter who it's with.

That's precisely where the discrimination comes in. Gay student at Multnomah? Fine (kind of). Gay married student at Multnomah? You'll be asked to leave. "It is our deeply held religious belief that we would have to ask the student to step away," Williford says. "Yes, you could call it discriminating on the basis of same-sex marriage." Of course, discriminating on the basis of same-sex marriage is one way of discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

This is perfectly fine with the Department of Education, by the way. Since 1989, the federal government has given Multnomah the okay to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, and has no problem supplying federal student aid to people who enroll at the school. That's because of a Title IX provision that allows exemptions to religious schools. Williford thinks that permissions given in 1989 might apply to discriminating against transgender students, too. He wants to be safe, though, which is why he applied for a formal exemption earlier this year.

How do transgender students fare at Multnomah? It hasn't really come up, Williford says, but it's clear they'd be held to a different standard.

"We will admit students who are gay and lesbian," Williford says. "We will look at transgender students on an individual basis."