Yeshiva University students sue to start LGBTQ club
A group of Yeshiva University of students are suing to force the college to recognize their LGBTQ club — claiming the group has been repeatedly blocked.
Two former and two current students filed the Manhattan
Supreme Court lawsuit Tuesday alleging the university has denied their requests
to officially register a gay-rights group as a student club three times in just
2019 and 2020.
The students argued that not allowing such a group to be
officially recognized alongside the 116 other student clubs is discriminatory
and violates New York’s human rights law.
In February 2019, the school took the unusual step of
overruling the group’s formation despite the student council approving it, the
suit claims.
YU said it wouldn’t allow a group to form that has the terms
“gay” or “LGBT” in their its title — noting that this type of club “would
‘cloud’ the university’s ‘nuanced’ position on the treatment of LGBTQ
students,” the suit charges.
So the YU Pride Alliance — also a plaintiff in the suit —
was formed unofficially in September 2019 at a protest march supporting LGBTQ
students, the court papers say.
And under the new name, which met the school’s criteria, the
group applied again in January 2020 — but the request was denied in the spring
2020 semester and again in the fall 2020 semester, the court filing claims.
Even before their bids to form the club, the university has
a long-running history of denying other students’ requests to form an LGBTQ
club — going back to 2009 with the Tolerance Club, the court papers allege.
The suit says the denial is unfair because it “deprives”
students and members of “the important benefits enjoyed by YU’s 116 other
recognized student organizations” — including funding for club activities, use
of facilities for club meetings, ads for club events in school emails and on
bulletin boards, and inclusion in the club fairs for recruiting incoming
students, the court documents say.
“Beyond depriving students of access to these tangible
benefits of student clubs, YU’s refusal to recognize the YU Pride Alliance
sends a stark and painful message of rejection and non-belonging to its LGBTQ
students and their allies,” the suit charges.
Students could end up feeling isolated and unwelcome because
of the lack of resources and camaraderie, the court papers say.
“YU has inflicted and is continuing to inflict grave
dignitary, emotional, and psychological harms on these college students, and
indeed on all its students, who need belonging, safety, community, and
support,” the court documents allege.
The students are asking a judge to intervene and to force
the school to recognize the YU Pride Alliance.
Plaintiff Tai Miller, a former student from the class of
2020 and current Harvard Medical school student said in a statement, “The
administration’s persistent rejection of the LGBTQ club made me feel ostracized
and unwanted by both my undergraduate community and, more broadly, from my
faith community.”
“New York City law is open-and-shut in this case, and
Yeshiva University knows it,” plaintiff lawyer Katherine Rosenfeld said in a
statement. “YU may not discriminate against students because of their sexual
orientation or gender.”
The university did not immediately return a request for
comment.
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