Jewish University in New York Allowed to Deny Recognition to Queer Student Group

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The US Supreme Court has blocked an earlier court ruling that would have made Yeshiva University in Manhattan, the most prominent institution of Modern Orthodox Jewish higher education in the US, to recognize an LGBTQ+ student club, the school said on its website.

"Justice Sotomayor has just ruled that Yeshiva University, America’s flagship Jewish university, can continue to live out its religious mission without government interference. Today’s ruling stays a prior New York County Trial Court decision and protects Yeshiva’s First Amendment rights and ability to conduct its internal affairs consistent with its religious values," the university said on Friday.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in her Friday ruling that the Jewish university in New York can, temporarily, disregard a prior state-level court ruling and deny recognition to the YU Pride Alliance.

Justice Sotomayor wrote, as quoted by The New York Times, that the state decision was "hereby stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the court."

"We are pleased with Justice Sotomayor’s ruling which protects our religious liberty and identity as a leading faith-based academic institution," Rabbi Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, said, as quoted in the school's Friday release. He emphasized that the university continues to welcome all students, including those from the LGBTQ community.

In June, New York County Supreme Court Judge Lynn Kotler ruled that Yeshiva University must be in compliance with the New York City Human Rights Law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

However, the university claimed a religious exemption to the human rights law, saying that, despite being chartered as an organization that is not religious, the school nonetheless emphasizes religion in its curriculum and is grounded in Modern Orthodox Judaism.