Court requires Yeshiva University to recognize LGBT student group, for now

A new religious freedom case is coming around the bend. This one will ask whether a private university can, on religious grounds, prohibit an LGBT student organization from organizing on campus. The Supreme Court for now has said it's too early for this case to reach the Court, which means the university has to proceed through the state appellate courts in New York. But yesterday's ruling denying the stay is a temporary measure. This case will likely return to the Court someday and provide the Justices with its first opportunity to interpret the New York City Human Rights Law, amended in 2005 to provide greater civil rights protections than federal law.

The case is Yeshiva University v. YU Pride Alliance, issued on September 14. The case was initially resolved in the New York State trial court, which ruled against the university, holding that the New York City Human Rights Law prohibits this kind of sexual orientation discrimination. Yeshiva unsuccessfully sought emergency relief from the New York appellate courts before filing in the Supreme Court. The 5-4 Court majority says Yeshiva has to follow through on its state appeals through an expedited process. Yeshiva will do that, I am sure, and if the New York appellate courts rule in favor of the student group, the case will return to the Supreme Court, which is in the process of revitalizing the Free Exercise Clause to expand the religious rights of institutions and individuals.

State Supreme Court (the trial-level court in New York) ruled against Yeshiva in June 2022, holding that while the university is an educational institution with a rich Jewish heritage and a mission to combine"the spirit of the Torah" with strong secular studies, while Yeshiva believes the LGBT student group's mission conflicts with that of the university, Yeshiva is a place of "public accommodation" and not an exempt religious corporation under the City Human Rights Law, one of the most expansive civil rights laws in the country. 

The Supreme Court's three liberals voted with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh to deny the stay. Justice Alito writes the dissent from yesterday's ruling, joined by Justices Gorsuch, Barrett and Thomas. Alito opens his dissent as follows:

Does the First Amendment permit a State to force a Jewish school to instruct its students in accordance with an interpretation of Torah that the school, after careful study, has concluded is incorrect? The answer to that question is surely “no.” The First Amendment guarantees the right to the free exercise of religion, and if that provision means anything, it prohibits a State from enforcing its own preferred interpretation of Holy Scripture. Yet that is exactly what New York has done in this case, and it is disappointing that a majority of this Court refuses to provide relief.

Ultimately, Alito writes, "A State’s imposition of its own mandatory interpretation of scripture is a shocking development that calls out for review. The Free Exercise Clause protects the ability of religious schools to educate in accordance with their faith." In forcing Yeshiva to recognize this student group, the university "would force Yeshiva to make a 'statement' in support of an in interpretation with
which the University disagrees."