GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A Christian fraternity has sued the University of Florida, claiming the university discriminates against it by refusing to recognize the fraternity as a registered student group.

University officials have told Beta Upsilon Chi that it can't be registered on campus because only men are allowed to join, which amounts to prohibited sex discrimination, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Gainesville.

BYX, which has 21 chapters at colleges across the United States, claims the university allows other single-sex fraternities such as Progressive Black Men and Women's Choral.

Beta Upsilon Chi claims in the lawsuit that the university will not allow it on campus because the rules governing UF's Greek system bar religious discrimination. The fraternity requires its members to be Christians.

Without official recognition, the fraternity is deprived of benefits including access to meeting space and the ability to advertise and recruit members on campus, the suit said.

UF spokesman Steve Orlando said the university does not comment on pending litigation, but in a five-page response to the lawsuit, the university claims that, despite their names, Progressive Black Men and Women's Choral, do not limit membership to one gender

The advocates who filed the lawsuit, the Christian Legal Society and the Alliance Defense Fund, had sued the University of Georgia in December because the school wouldn't recognize a chapter of the fraternity because of the religious discrimination issue.

That suit was settled two days later when the university changed its policy and allowed the fraternity to register.

ON THE NET: Beta Upsilon Chi: Brothers Under Christ