Chicago Tribune | Campus club seeks right to exclude gays

Chicago Tribune | Campus club seeks right to exclude gays: "Campus club seeks right to exclude gays | ASU, Christian group battle in court | By Vincent J. Schodolski | Tribune national correspondent | Published December 28, 2004

TEMPE, Ariz. -- A legal confrontation is playing out here as a student organization seeks official recognition and money from a state-run university even though the students plan to exclude non-Christians and gays.
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In the lawsuit, the society argues that the members at Arizona State have a constitutionally protected right to organize and receive university recognition under the 1st and 14th Amendments.

Members of the Christian Legal Society must sign a statement of faith, a document that essentially is the Apostles' Creed. In the declaration, members attest to their faith in God and also say the Bible is the "inspired word of God."
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M. Casey Mattox, litigation counsel for the Christian Legal Society in Washington, said the group asked Arizona State to exempt the chapter from having to comply with university policies that required non-discrimination against people on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation.

Nancy Tribbensee, a staff attorney for the university, said Arizona State will not comply with the society's request. "We are aggressively defending" the non-discrimination policy, she said.
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In a recent case at Ohio State University, officials ultimately allowed a chapter to form and be recognized and allowed the group to refuse membership to non-Christians and homosexuals.

"It ended up in our changing our policy," said Amy Murray, assistant director of media relations at Ohio State.
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"They are forcing taxpayers to underwrite discrimination," said David Tseng, a Washington attorney who has specialized in non-discrimination law. "The endorsement of discrimination is appalling," he said.

Tseng, formerly executive director of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said the use of public money was the crucial factor and that tax money should be spent to advance the public good.

The members of the Christian Legal Society "have the right to meet and to organize, but the example we are setting for students is that bigotry is acceptable," he said. "They are using the mantle of religion to mask a very blunt objective, that is to deny equality."