The Supreme Court denied the Jewish university’s emergency request to block lower court orders requiring it to recognize a gay student group. Yesterday’s Supreme Court decision does however allow for the university to continue pushing the issue in lower courts. The university has argued that recognizing the club violates its religious freedom.
A New York court had previously ordered the university to recognize the club in order to comply with the states anti-discrimination laws. This led the university to take the matter to the Supreme Court. The ruling was made by a divided court as the university’s emergency request was denied by a 5-4 vote.
The decision is significant as some feared that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority would use the opportunity to set a major precedent in cases relating to denying LGBT people equal rights based on claims of religious freedom.
Yeshiva University’s Pride Alliance along with several students sued the university last year over its refusal to recognize the club. The university released the following statement addressing its decision to not recognize the club as official, “the message of Torah on this issue is nuanced, both accepting each individual with love and affirming its timeless prescriptions. While students will of course socialize in gatherings as they see fit, forming a new club as requested under the auspices of YU will cloud this nuanced message.”