By Alliance Defending Freedom ALEXANDRIA, La. (ADF) – On behalf of the Rapides Parish School Board, serving more than 20,000 students, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit April 30 against the Biden administration for what they described as unlawfully rewriting Title IX. Louisiana House Speaker Pro-Tempore Mike Johnson began preparations to file a lawsuit during the summer of 2023, when he heard of possible federal rule changes. In October, he began working with ADF to file the lawsuit as soon as the revisions were enacted. "Our children are our most precious gift from God and our responsibility is to protect them," Johnson, a member of First Baptist Church, Pineville, told the Baptist Message. "This rule change is a direct threat upon our youth and particularly our girls. It presents a danger and a threat to their rights under Title IX and an assault on our values and norms cannot stand." On April 19, the Biden administration announced it would redefine “sex” in Title IX rules to include “gender identity,” requiring schools to ignore the biological distinction between male and female in favor of “an individual’s sense of their gender.” According to ADF, the Department of Education’s … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – During a press conference held April 29 in the Capitol, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry introduced the state’s Attorney General Liz Murrill who announced that her office had filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for rule changes that she said “eviscerate Title IX,” referring to a landmark civil rights law that is best known for the protections it provided women in any school or education program that receives federal funds. “So, here are some of the consequences of the rule,” she explained: -- “Boys and girls will be forced to share bathrooms, locker rooms and perhaps lodging on overnight field trips with members of the opposite sex. -- “They'll be forced to use the preferred pronouns or face punishment. It raises distinct free speech and free exercise problems. -- “Parents may never hear about unapproved, so-called gender-affirming counseling that their children receive, because the rule allows the school to conceal that information from parents in certain circumstances. -- “Teachers and other school administrators are forced to create and carry out employee training programs on the 423-page rule to change school policies and begin … [Read more...]

By Baptist Message staff BLANCHARD, La. (LBM) – Members of the chainsaw team at First Baptist Church, Blanchard, recently to serve and to share Jesus in the aftermath of an April 28 storm. During one of their stops, the team ministered to a widow who not only had a tree blocking her driveway but had lost her husband in January and her son a month before. In the end, the team left the house “feeling more blessed than we ever thought that we could have been a blessing to her,” according to Craig Bond, unit director for the chainsaw team and task force leader for the Louisiana Baptist Incident Management Team. “She had already received one quote earlier in the morning for a significant amount that she could not afford, and others were circulating through the area handing out cards,” Bond told the Baptist Message. “I told her what we were there to do, and it was going to be no charge to her, just let us handle it. She immediately began to cry, and hugged me, thanking me and saying that she had been standing out there praying for some kind of answer. I told her we were there to bring her hope.” The team also helped a fellow church member remove a large limb hanging from a tree that posed danger to the homeowner and the … [Read more...]