Anti-Gay Group Seeks Recognition

Anti-gay Christians are fighting back in a case involving Every Nation Campus Ministries at California State University.
Student members of the ministry on the CSU Long Beach and San Diego campuses say their mission is to model a virtuous lifestyle for their peers. They will not accept as members gays, lesbians or anyone who considers homosexuality "a natural part of God's created order."
Legal analysts agree that the ministry, as a private organization, has every right to exclude gays; the Supreme Court affirmed that principle in a case involving the Boy Scouts of America in 2000. At issue is whether the university must grant official recognition to a student group that discriminates against others.
The students say denying them recognition -- and its attendant benefits, such as funding -- violates their free-speech rights and discriminates against their conservative theology. Christian groups at public colleges in other states have sued using similar arguments. Several of those lawsuits were settled out of court, with the groups prevailing.
In California, however, the university may have a strong defense in court. The California Supreme Court recently ruled that the city of Berkeley was justified in denying subsidies to the Boy Scouts because of that group's exclusionary policies. Eddie L. Washington, the lawyer representing Cal State, argues the same standard should apply to the university.
"We're certainly not going to fund discrimination," Washington said.
As they step up their legal campaign, conservative Christians face uncertain prospects. The First Amendment guarantees Americans "free exercise" of religion. In practice, though, the ground rules shift depending on the situation.
In the public schools, an Ohio middle-school student last year won the right to wear a T-shirt that proclaimed: "Homosexuality is a sin! Islam is a lie! Abortion is murder!"
But a teenager in Kentucky lost in federal court when he tried to exempt himself from a school program on gay tolerance on the grounds that it violated his religious beliefs.
from The Detroit News