US Supreme Court Allows Jewish University to Deny LGBTQ+ Group

The US Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a court order that would have forced Yeshiva University, an Orthodox Jewish institution, to recognize its LGBTQ+ group as an official campus club.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday afternoon (September 9) granted the request “at least for now” by Yeshiva University to block a New York state court ruling that directed the university to approve an official “Pride Alliance” student club. The university, which has four campuses in New York City, argued that granting recognition to the group “would violate its sincere religious beliefs." 

On the other hand, the club said Yeshiva already has recognized a gay pride club at its law school. The court, however, has indicated that it would have more to say on the topic at some point. In a brief order on Friday afternoon, Sotomayor indicated that the ruling would be frozen “pending further order” from her or from the full court – indicating that there is likely more to come on the university’s request. 

The dispute began last year, when a group of students and former students filed a lawsuit in a New York trial court, alleging that Yeshiva’s refusal to recognize an LGBTQ+ advocacy and support club violated New York City’s human rights law. That law prohibits “public accommodations” – that is, places that are open to the public – from discriminating based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The state trial court agreed and ordered the university to recognize a Pride Alliance club. It rejected Yeshiva’s argument that the human rights law does not apply because the university is a religious institution, rather than a public accommodation. After the New York appeals courts declined to put the trial court’s ruling on hold, Yeshiva came to the Supreme Court, calling the ruling an “unprecedented intrusion into church autonomy.” 

This ruling "does not touch the university’s well-established right to express to all students its sincerely held beliefs about Torah values and sexual orientation,” the group said in its filing at the Supreme Court. However, “it may not deny certain students access to the non-religious resources it offers the entire student community on the basis of sexual orientation,” noted the filing.

Sotomayor did not explain her decision to temporarily put the state trial court’s ruling on hold. However, the final sentence of her order, indicating that there could be further action on the university’s request, suggests that the court may have wanted to act at least preliminarily before the September 12 deadline for clubs to apply for recognition.

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