Judge: University can't favor LGBT student groups with funds

A federal judge has ruled that a university’s strategy to give funds generated by mandatory student fees to groups and messages its officials favored is unconstitutional and has to change. The ruling comes in the case Nathan Apodaca and Students for Life against California State University-San Marcos. “Public universities should encourage all students to participate […]

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A federal judge has ruled that a university’s strategy to give funds generated by mandatory student fees to groups and messages its officials favored is unconstitutional and has to change.

The ruling comes in the case Nathan Apodaca and Students for Life against California State University-San Marcos.

“Public universities should encourage all students to participate in the free exchange of ideas, not create elaborate and secretive funding schemes to award their favored few with first-class status while denying even economy class to opposing views,” said senior counsel Caleb Dalton, of the Alliance Defending Freedom, which fought the case.

“The university spared no expense to fund the advocacy of its preferred student groups but denied funding for speakers from Students for Life. But yesterday, the district court correctly declared, ‘These ‘back room deliberations’ are exactly the [sic] type of considerations the First Amendment is designed to prevent. Nothing prevents these officials from encouraging some views while suppressing others through cosponsorship funding.’ We’re grateful the district court has rejected this unfair and discriminatory policy as unconstitutional.”

The case erupted two years ago when officials at the school ordered pro-life students to pay $75 in activities fees every semester – and then used those proceeds to fund pro-abortion speakers.

ADF explained at the time that the university funds “pro-abortion and other favored views with almost $300,000 in mandatory fees charged of Mr. Apodaca and all students, but denied Students for Life $500 in funding to host a visiting speaker on ‘Abortion and Human Equality’ to provide a contrasting view.”

And while the university had claimed it prohibits all of its more than 100 student groups from spending the fees on speakers, the complaint explained, the Gender Equity Center and the LGBQTA Pride Center “enjoy preferential status, and as such, are exempt from that rule.”

“In the 2016-2017 academic year, those two ‘centers’ received a combined $296,498 for speech and expressive activities – more than 21 percent of all mandatory student activity fees the programming board received for that year,” ADF said.

In contrast, only $38,629 was allocated for the more than 100 other groups combined.

The ADF cited the judge’s condemnation of “back room deliberations” that were used at the school to direct student fees to specific messages.

“While touting a community that values ‘individual and cultural diversity, and respect[s] multiple perspectives,’ Cal State–San Marcos is not practicing the ‘inclusiveness’ it preaches,” said Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom. “Today’s college students will be tomorrow’s legislators, judges, commissioners, and voters, and the district court has correctly decided that Cal-State San Marcos can’t force student citizens to pay for advocacy of the views the university decides are orthodox and effectively exclude competing views. There can be no marketplace of ideas where the government simply funds its favored views.”

Kristan Hawkins, head of the Students for Life of American organization, added, “Public universities have no right to use their power, including mandatory student fees, to restrict speech they don’t agree with or particularly like.

“Thankfully, the court agrees that forcing students to pay into a system that treats their peers unfairly is a disservice to the entire Cal State-San Marcos student body and flatly unconstitutional. Pro-life students should have every opportunity available to them that pro-abortion students have, and anything less is a failure on the part of Cal State-San Marcos to abide by the First Amendment.”

Here’s a video about the dispute:

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