Politics
Friday August 1, 2008
See today's LifeSiteNews stories
Court Orders University of Florida to Accept Christian Fraternity
GAINESVILLE, FL, August 1, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ordered University of Florida officials Wednesday to stop discriminating against a Christian fraternity, Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX), while a lawsuit filed by Christian Legal Society and Alliance Defense Fund attorneys against school officials is on appeal.
"The 11th Circuit seems to understand that Christian student groups cannot be singled out for discrimination. The right to associate with people of like mind and interest applies to all student groups on a public university campus," said Litigation Counsel Timothy J. Tracey with CLS's Center for Law & Religious Freedom. "We are confident that the court will not allow the University of Florida to continue to deprive BYX of this right by forcing the group to abandon its identity as a Christian men's organization."
University officials had refused to recognize BYX as a registered student group because the group limits its membership to Christian men. The school does not apply a similar standard to other student organizations, permitting various groups to limit their membership to those who share the organization's views.
Without official recognition, BYX cannot receive critical benefits given to other student groups, such as access to meeting space and the ability to advertise and recruit members on campus. Wednesday's injunction from the 11th Circuit means that the university must officially recognize BYX while the case moves forward.
A motion for summary judgment is still pending in federal district court, but BYX appealed the case to the 11th Circuit when the district court denied a preliminary injunction to BYX. The fraternity had gone the entire 2007-2008 school year without official recognition.
Back to TopSHARE THIS STORY: E-mail Print Newsvine Digg Reddit Del.icio.us Facebook
Latest Headlines
- Democratic Platform Promises, Republican Platform Rejects More Abortion Overseas
- US Government Cuts Off Supplies to Marie Stopes International
- Catholic Magazine Calls For Defeat And Removal Of Prime Minister Harper
- Liberal Party says it Too Opposes Reopening the Abortion Debate
- Cardinal Rigali Urges Opposition to "Freedom of Choice Act" during Respect Life Month
- Kansas City Bishop Warns: Federal "Freedom of Choice Act" would Make "Null and Void" all Abortion Restrictions in the US
- LifeChain to be Held this Sunday October 5 in 1375 Cities in US, Canada
- Judicial Council Dismisses Complaint against Chief Justice over Morgentaler Award
- Day 9 Of 40 Days For Life Ottawa
- Fordham Students Petition University President to Revoke Award Offer to Justice Breyer
- Forty Years of Culture wars in Canada
- After Receiving 18,201 Petitions, YouTube Pulls Host Desecration Videos
- Swedish Man Awarded $24,170 Compensation after Filming Himself Having Sex with 14 Year-Old
Most Read this Week
- Extreme Pro-Abortion Feminist Heather Mallick Scheduled to Speak at Catholic St. Mary's University
- Sarah Palin Speaks on Abortion, Contraception, Homosexuality
- Martin Sheen Stars in Ad Opposing Assisted Suicide in Washington State
- Abortion Patient of George Tiller Feared for Life: 'They're Liable to Kill Me'
- Bella Star Eduardo Saves Five Unborn Babies' Lives
- Prime Minister Harper: Not Now, Not Ever Will Conservative Government Protect Unborn Children
- CBC Apologises for "Porn Star" Attack on Palin
- Russia: 64% of Pregnancies End in Abortion
- Bishop Soto Crashes National Homosexual Ministries Conference with the Truth: Homosexuality "is Sinful"
- Catholic Magazine Calls For Defeat And Removal Of Prime Minister Harper
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.