A New York trial court ruled that the New York City Human Rights Law requires Yeshiva to recognize an official Pride Alliance club. It has entered a permanent injunction against Yeshiva, and New York’s higher courts have denied Yeshiva’s requests for emergency relief… absent emergency relief from the Supreme Court, the permanent injunction will require Yeshiva to approve the club “immediately.”
If there is one issue that divides the country it is whether civil rights trump religious rights of vice versa. The former liberal Supreme Court had consistently ruled in favor of civil rights - while claiming that no religious rights were violated by their rulings. (Which in my view is a major Chutzpah. For laymen to say what does and does not constitute a violation of the religious rights of any religion is much the same as laymen saying what constitutes a life saving medical procedure. But I digress.)
Fortunately we have a Supreme Court that gives a lot more respect to religious rights than has been the case for decades. A court that for practical purposes had placed religious rights second to civil rights. I can’t predict how the current high court will rule. But I have a good feeling about it.
Why is YU against this club? After all is there no merit to respecting the civil rights of their homosexual students? Do people LGBTQ students not have the right to congregate for purposes of camaraderie and ‘moral support’? Doesn’t the fact that prejudice against homosexual (sometimes expressed with violence) still exist? ...causing many sometimes ending to suicide?!
Surely those are legitimate concern. There is a lot of hate out there which is due to ignorance and misinterpretation of the biblical prohibition on homosexual behavior. But that cannot be a reason to endorse the forbidden by granting legitimacy to sinful behavior. Which is implicit in legitimizing an LGBTQ club.
The message becomes that homosexuality and all sexual expressions of thereof are religiously acceptable. Celebrated even! There is a difference between having sympathy, understanding, and respect for the human dignity of people with these issues and normalizing forbidden (by religious law) homosexual behavior equalizing it with permitted b heterosexual behavior. That contradicts the religious teachings of the school!
As I have said many times. LGBTQ activist want to do exactly that – completely normalize any and all all expressions of sexuality associated with being LGBTQ. They want to be treated like anyone else. Who can really blame them, really? But religious law does no allow for that. None of the 3 major faiths (Christianity, Islam, and Judaism) are OK with homosexual sex.
That said (and I can’t speak for Christianity or Islam) Judaism does require us to be Dan L’Kaf Zechus. We are required to assume all men innocent of any sin until proven guilty. It requires us to respect all human beings regardless of their sexual orientation.
If I said this once, I’ve said it a hundred times. It isn’t a sin to be attracted only to people of the same sex. It is only a sin to act upon it in ways that the Torah forbids. So unless an LGBTQ person flaunts their behavior and tries to sell it as permitted and normal he should be treated no differently than a heterosexual person. Which should be determined by their character and personal conduct. Not on sexual orientation.
An LGBTQ club on the campus of a religious school that is guided by - even required to follow - the Torah on all issues cannot do that if they are forced to legitimize a club that declares such behavior to be perfectly moral. Even declaring it immoral to oppose it!
This is why forcing YU to legitimize an LGBTQ club would be a violation of the Free Exercise of religion. I don’t see any other way to view it. I believe (hope) the high court will see it the same way. And with a majority conservative Justices, it probably will.
Thank you former President Trump. (Sometimes bad people do good things.)
