Court orders university to reinstate Christian club booted for refusing to elect LGBT activist
by Fr Mark Hodges, LifeSite:
A Christian group has prevailed in court and will be reinstated as a campus organization after being stripped of club status for disqualifying an active homosexual from running for its leadership position.
U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Rose granted a temporary injunction blocking the University of Iowa’s (UI) ban against the campus Christian group Business Leaders in Christ (BLinC). Tuesday’s decision allowed BLinC to recruit at a fair in the student union on Wednesday.
“The University has to stop discriminating against BLinC because of its religious beliefs,” Becket Fund attorney Eric Baxter stated in a press release. “Every other group on campus gets to select leaders who embrace their mission. Religious groups don’t get second-class treatment.”
Gay activist Marcus Miller applied for BLinC leadership, but refused to agree to BLinC’s Statement of Faith, which includes sexual chastity outside heterosexual marriage. “He expressly stated that he rejected BLinC’s religious beliefs and would not follow them,” the group explained.
Miller then filed a complaint with the university, claiming he was rejected because he is gay. UI in turn yanked BLinC’s status as a registered student group, effectively halting their activities on campus.
In temporarily reversing the university’s ban, Judge Rose reasoned that the school is not consistently enforcing its own anti-discrimination policy. She noted as an example a campus Muslim group which excludes all but Muslims.
“BLinC’s motion is granted based solely upon the university’s selective enforcement of an otherwise reasonable and viewpoint neutral nondiscrimination policy,” Rose explained.
“Public universities can’t tell religious student groups what to believe or who to pick as their leaders,” Baxter said. “The court has told the University of Iowa to stop discriminating against BLinC because of its religious beliefs.”
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