The Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP) has announced it will cease operations due to internal financial and operational challenges, concluding its litigation campaign against Title IX religious exemptions for faith-based institutions.
According to Restoration News, REAP was established in 2021 with the aim of challenging Title IX’s religious exemption. This exemption allows faith-based colleges and universities to maintain their doctrines on marriage, sexuality, and gender identity while receiving federal funding. The group’s activism focused on dismantling these protections, which Christian institutions have long defended as essential for preserving religious liberty. REAP’s closure in August 2025 was described by Christian higher education leaders as a victory, removing a key adversary that had repeatedly attempted to use the courts to impose secular mandates on religious schools.
Christianity Today reports that REAP’s most high-profile lawsuit was Hunter v. U.S. Department of Education, filed in 2021 with 46 plaintiffs who alleged harm from policies at religious colleges. The lawsuit sought to eliminate Title IX exemptions by arguing they violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In 2023, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the dismissal of the case, reaffirming long-standing legal precedents that protect religious colleges’ right to operate according to their beliefs.
Inside Higher Ed noted that REAP was active beyond litigation, running advocacy campaigns such as the podcast “On God’s Campus: Voices from the Queer Underground” to highlight LGBTQ student experiences at religious schools. The group claimed engagement with students from more than 200 institutions, documenting alleged Title IX violations ranging from expulsions to disciplinary actions for same-sex relationships. However, courts consistently upheld that Title IX’s religious exemption remains constitutional, leaving REAP without the legal victories it sought before its shutdown.
According to the group’s official website, REAP was founded by Paul Southwick, who also serves as legal director for ACLU Idaho. The organization described its mission as advocating for LGBTQ students in religious higher education through litigation, public campaigns, and storytelling initiatives. While legally incorporated as a nonprofit entity, it announced on August 10, 2025, that it has ceased activist operations.
