A nondiscrimination lawsuit against Cal State Long Beach and San Diego State University from 2005 has resurfaced after the former campus Christian group, Every Nation Campus Ministries, filed an appeal in February.
The case is over for CSULB, as only the SDSU plaintiffs have chosen to participate in the appeal.
In 2005 Every Nation Campus Ministries—a non-university-backed Christian group—filed a civil rights suit in the United States District Court for the district of Southern California against both SDSU and CSULB.
Both universities follow codes laid out by the California State University system that have zero tolerance for discrimination on campus.
Every Nation Campus Ministries had wanted to obtain recognition as a university-supported group or club, which can bring numerous benefits. These groups receive funding from the school, can congregate on campus and access various channels for communicating its message.
The Christian group was not approved to access any of these benefits because of their membership requirements, which banned homosexuals from the club.
The CSU code, as mandated by Executive Order 1006, states that any club or organization on campus is required to open membership and leadership positions up to all students without regard to religion, sexual orientation, marital status, race, gender or disability.
The current situation involves Every Nation Campus Ministries’ appeal of the Feb. 6, 2005 ruling by District Judge Larry A. Burns in favor of SDSU and CSULB. Burns ruled that the nondiscrimination policy was proposed to regulate conduct, not to control speech or association, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“This case began over three years ago and we are pleased with the recent progress,” said CSULB President F. King Alexander in an e-mail. “We continue to stand behind our legal right and CSU nondiscrimination statutes that allow us to refrain from providing public funds to student organizations that discriminate against other students whether that is based on race, religion, sexual orientation, etc.”
Members and officers who were in the club were required to profess their faith in Jesus Christ, as well as follow a biblical code of conduct that prohibits sexual conduct outside the bounds of marriage specifically defined as between a man and a woman. Those who were open about their sexuality were immediately banned from the organization purely based on sexual orientation.
The Christian group felt its First Amendment rights were being violated by the two universities while having to compromise their thoughts and beliefs of Orthodox Christianity.
Alliance Defense Fund is representing the group. According to its website, the alliance focuses on cases that involve “religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and marriage and the family.”
Every Nation Campus Ministries sought not only to force an injunction in order to be recognized as a university-funded organization, but also aimed to win preliminary and permanent relief of injury to enjoin defense to cover fees and any nominal damage.
Jeremy Tedesco, Alliance Defense Fund attorney and litigation-staff councilman, argued that “University officials would never require that the student vegetarian club allow meat-eaters or hunters to lead their organization. The ultimate impact of this [nondiscrimination] policy will be either to eliminate Christian clubs from campus or dilute them to the point to where they are no longer Christian,” according to the Alliance Defense Fund website.
Among the universities themselves, the CSU system board of trustees was also included in the lawsuit, along with select members of both universities, including state officials Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.
Tedesco told the San Diego Union-Tribune, “[The policy] doesn’t respect a Christian group’s ability to make membership decisions.”
Campuses are allowed to shape their own environment, and groups essentially have the same right, therefore the case served to be a double-edged sword.
“The law is tricky,” said Craig Smith, a professor and director of the First Amendment Center at CSULB, in regard to the case. “If a public campus provides a facility for a group to meet, one of the general rules is that if you provide the services, facilities and funds to one group, you have to provide them to all groups, as long as the group’s message is not libel or slanderous.”
Professor David Stewart, who specializes in religious studies, said, “It seems apathetical to bar [homosexuals] from a Christian group when you must preach the Christian message to all creatures, including homosexuals.”
Stewart explained that the Bible has 2,000 verses pertaining to caring for the poor, and maybe six that might deal with homosexuality.
“One is clearly more important than the other,” Stewart said.
Stewart said he believes the group’s take on homosexual participation is unwarranted.
“Every Nation Campus Ministries has had an unsupportable reading of the Bible’s take on homosexuality,” Stewart said. “If they truly are a Christian group, they should know the great commission is for all Christians to preach the gospel to all creatures. On biblical grounds, religious grounds and in civil society, they are wrong.”
“Members and officers who were in the club were required to profess their faith in Jesus Christ, as well as follow a biblical code of conduct that prohibits sexual conduct outside the bounds of marriage specifically defined as between a man and a woman. Those who were open about their sexuality were immediately banned from the organization purely based on sexual orientation.”
where is this conclusion being drawn from? you didn’t even talk to any of the members of the group..
Indeed. Jesus would invite everyone, without exclusion, to hear the word. Lovingly, He would put conviction in the hearts of sinners; as we all are sinners, and encourage His followers to fellowship with one another and to be apostles in a dark and desperate world. Of course, I suppose that is about where He would cross the line with Cal State.
As a member of this group, this lawsuit wasn’t about discriminating against anyone. We don’t believe in using our values to discriminate against anyone. We have never had a history of barring anyone from one club. We have even been known to host discussion group forums in the dorms about various social, political, philosophical, religious and economic issues that have been widely attended by non-religious and people of various sexual orientation.
Professor David Stewart’s comments fly in the face of 5,000 years of Judaeo and then Christian teaching. Suddenly he sweeps the past away with his apodictic comment that “On biblical grounds, religious grounds and in civil society, they [Every Nation Campus ministries] are wrong.” As we know we are not dealing only with homosexually oriented persons but also with bi-sexually oriented persons. Can Christian groups legitimately prohibit bi-sexuals from membership and leadership in their group? Funny thing, we never hear anything about the B in LGBT. And as for the ‘maybe six’ scriptures that ‘might deal with homosexuality,’ why would such universally abhorrent behavior need more than a limited number of condemnation? There wasn’t homosexuality rampant among the Jews or Christians. Clearly sex outside marriage between a man and a woman is repeated condemned in Scripture. The Professor is disingenuous when he says “It seems apathetical to bar [homosexuals] from a Christian group when you must preach the Christian message to all creatures, including homosexuals.” A Christian group may preach the Christian message without having in their midst members who reject that message (cf 1 Cor 5). The world has gone mad, I fear and even the worst of things are thought, now, to be the best.
What would Jesus do? I bet he’d allow everyone to freely worship instead of exclude others.