WACO, Texas (AP) — The world's largest Baptist university has dropped specific references to homosexual acts from its sexual conduct policy, though the new policy's application for married gay couples isn't clear. 
 
 Previously, Baylor University policy listed homosexual acts with adultery, fornication, incest, sexual abuse, harassment and assault as sexual acts that were expressly prohibited. But the university has dropped specific actions that would be considered violations and its policy now specifies only "that physical sexual intimacy is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity." 
 
 University spokeswoman Lori Fogleman referred questions Tusday about how the policy affects to married gay couples to the policy's application section, which still cites a 1963 Southern Baptist doctrinal statement specifying marriage as uniting one man and one woman in a lifetime commitment. 
 
 "These changes were made because we didn't believe the language reflected Baylor's caring community. We are pleased with the recent changes to the policy language and that it states more plainly the expectations of the university," Fogleman said in an email Tuesday. 
 
 The university Board of Regents approved the policy change in May, after school administrators presented a proposal to make the sexual conduct policy apply equally to all students, faculty and staff. 
 
 In 2013, then-Baylor student Trenton Garza proposed a resolution to the student senate that called for the change. The senate adopted the resolution in November 2013, but it was vetoed by the student body president and never presented to the regents. 
 
 Garza told the Waco Tribune-Herald that while the revised policy still marks no shift in the university's stance on same-sex relationships, it is a step toward inclusiveness on campus. 
 
 The university's policy toward gay students became an issue for Baylor basketball center Brittney Griner early this decade. At Baylor, Griner had to remove Twitter messages and photos of her girlfriend. After college, she went on to play in the WNBA and became the first openly gay athlete to sign with Nike and model apparel. 
 
 ___ 
 
 This story has been corrected to reflect that the regents voted on an administration recommendation presented in May, not a proposal presented in November 2013, and that it was a policy proposal, not a resolution. 

 Baylor drops ban on 'homosexual acts' 
 
 Baylor University. Baylor University. Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Baylor drops ban on 'homosexual acts' 1 / 1 Back to Gallery 
 
 The world's largest Baptist university has dropped a ban on "homosexual acts" in its sexual conduct policy. 
 
 After years of appeals from students, alumni and others, Baylor University revised its sexual conduct policy, dropping the ban on gay sex to "state more plainly the expectations of the university," a Baylor spokeswoman said Tuesday. 
 
 "These changes were made because we didn't believe the language reflected Baylor's caring community," spokeswoman Lori Fogleman said in an email. 
 
 Baylor's old policy called "homosexual acts" a misuse of "God's gift," along with sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, incest and adultery. 
 
 Baylor, a private school that is the oldest university in Texas, has at times been slow to change with the world around it, fearing the wrath of fundamentalists. The school didn't lift a ban on dancing until the mid-1990s -- a decision that came six years after students called on Baylor leaders to change the rule so they didn't have to party at off-campus bars. The school continues to ban alcohol on campus or at university-related events. 
 
 Students have called on administrators to update the sexual conduct policy for years. In 2013, the student government passed a vote to change the policy, but then-student body President Wesley Hodges vetoed the motion. Hodges did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. 
 
 The school's updated policy, approved by Baylor's board in May, is far more vague than its last one. It says the university will be guided by "the biblical understanding that human sexuality is a gift from God." Sex, the policy says, "is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity." 

 A recent, quiet change to Baylor University’s student sexual conduct policy probably won't go down as a landmark achievement for gay rights. The new wording is vague, and it probably didn’t grant gay students any new freedom. 
 
 But advocates are still celebrating. The old policy explicitly banned “homosexual acts” among students, and included those acts on a list of “misuses of God’s gift” that also included sexual abuse, incest and adultery. 
 
 In May, with little fanfare, the school's board of regents approved a new policy without a specific ban. It instead says that students should be guided “by the biblical understanding that human sexuality is a gift from God,” and that sex should be limited to within marriage. 
 
 That's a small bit of progress for the largest Baptist school in the country, gay rights advocates said. And it’s a sign that a private university known for its religious conservatism – it banned dancing on campus until the late 1990s – is slowly becoming more accommodating to its gay population, advocates said. 
 
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 “They have done a lot of incremental changes, which are all good,” said Carmen Saenz, chairwoman of a gay community group in Baylor’s hometown of Waco. “And I think this is just another step in the right direction.” 
 
 Meanwhile, pushback appears to be limited. Some alumni have complained on social media about bowing to political correctness. But many appear to support the change – or have ignored it altogether. 
 
 It’s not entirely clear what the change means. Many gay students and alumni didn’t learn about it until weeks after it was adopted. University spokeswoman Lori Fogleman said in an email that the change was part of a broader review of school policies. The new language "states more plainly the expectations of the university," she said. 
 
 
 
 And the policy was finalized before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide. At the time, saying sex should be between two married people meant specifically a married man and woman. The university hasn’t clarified whether gay couples now qualify, but the policy includes a footnote saying it should be interpreted “in a manner consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message of 1963,” which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. 
 
 Either way, the removal of the language specifically targeting gay students is reason for hope for recent graduate Adam Short. He co-founded a student group called the Sexual Identity Forum in 2011, but was never able to obtain official recognition from his school. 
 
 Short said he hopes the new policy will clear the path for recognition. That would allow the group to use Baylor logos on its social media posts and reserve rooms for on-campus meetings. It would also allow the group to advertise on campus, which may be most important, Short said. Many students don’t know about the small community of gay students on campus, he said, and many freshmen arrive at school thinking they’ll be expelled if they are outed, he said. 
 
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 “If SIF has recognition, then it can advertise on campus and make everyone know that it is okay to be gay at Baylor,” he said. 
 
 Short said he met with university administrators several times over his college career to push for recognition, but was told that it wasn’t possible. 
 
 “They would say, ‘We want to respect you as people, but the policy says this,’” Short said. 
 
 In 2013, the student senate approved a resolution asking regents to eliminate the reference to “homosexual acts” from the policy, but the student body president vetoed it. 
 
 Saenz said that 2013 vote is a sign of how things work at Baylor. Ideas are raised, she said, but often take a while – sometimes too long – to become reality, she said. 
 
 But attitudes are changing, she said. Her group, InterWaco–LGBTQ, keeps a list of professors who are supportive of gay students, and refers students to those teachers if they need help. In the past decade, it has been much easier to find supportive people, she said. And many more students feel comfortable coming out, she said. 
 
 School spokeswoman Fogleman seemed to agree. 
 
 “Those changes were made because we didn’t believe the [old] language reflected Baylor’s caring community,” she said in an email. 
 
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– The world's biggest Baptist university no longer has a sexual conduct policy that describes "homosexual acts" as a "misuse of God's gift" comparable to sexual assault or incest. A Baylor University spokeswoman tells the Houston Chronicle that the language in the old policy didn't reflect Baylor's "caring community" and the policy was changed to "state more plainly the expectations of the university." The new policy doesn't list prohibited acts, the AP reports, but states it is guided by the belief that "human sexuality is a gift from God" and "physical sexual intimacy is to be expressed in the context of marital fidelity." The new policy doesn't appear to actually allow Baylor students to engage in "homosexual acts" even in the context of marriage—it was updated before gay marriage was legalized nationwide and contains a footnote citing a 1963 Southern Baptist statement defining marriage as between a man and a woman, the AP notes—but it's still being seen as progress for the conservative institution, the Texas Tribune reports. The university is slowly becoming more accepting of gay students, advocates tell the Tribune, which notes that change doesn't come quickly at Baylor: Its ban on dancing on campus wasn't lifted until 1996.