NY Times: Yeshiva University Reverses Itself And Bans LGBTQ Club

Following up on my previous post, Yeshiva University Agrees To Recognize LGBTQ Student Group After Five-Year Battle:  New York Times, Yeshiva University Reverses Itself and Bans L.G.B.T.Q. Club:

Two months after Yeshiva University said it would recognize an L.G.B.T.Q. student club on campus, bringing a yearslong legal battle to an end, the school has reversed course and banned the organization.

The school said the club, called Hareni, had violated both Jewish principles and the legal settlement. But lawyers for the students said it was leaders at the school, a Modern Orthodox Jewish institution with campuses in Manhattan and the Bronx, who had violated the agreement with hostile religious rhetoric.

In a letter to the community on Friday, the university repeated an argument it made unsuccessfully in state court in 2022, saying its undergraduate programs are “fundamentally religious.”

The school said that “recent actions and statements” from Hareni, which was formed after a legal battle with an unofficial club called the Pride Alliance, had led administrators to believe that it was “operating as a pride club under a different name and as such is antithetical to the Torah values of our yeshiva, as well as in violation of the approved guidelines and of the terms of the settlement agreement.”

“There is no place for such a club in yeshiva,” the letter continued, using the general term for an Orthodox Jewish educational institution. It said: “We remain fully committed to guiding our students in their challenges” in a manner consistent with Jewish religious law.

Yeshiva’s decision in March to recognize the club had seemed to end the legal dispute, which had plunged a university in one of the country’s most liberal cities into a nationwide debate over religious freedom, civil rights and whether houses of worship, religiously affiliated organizations or even pious individuals could be compelled to provide public accommodations to people with differing views.

The litigation had been closely watched by religious organizations and religious freedom groups. While many Jewish congregations support L.G.B.T.Q. rights, many Orthodox leaders interpret the Torah as promoting traditional ideas of gender and sexuality.

Throughout years of legal wrangling, Yeshiva went to great lengths to deny the Pride Alliance official recognition, including briefly banning all on-campus clubs. As the case worked its way through the courts, it also drew the attention of state lawmakers, who criticized the university’s position and suggested it might have imperiled its ability to access public funds.

The official dissolution of Hareni comes at a time when the rights of L.G.B.T.Q. Americans appear under threat from the Trump administration, which has attacked elite universities and mounted a campaign against the participation of transgender people, in particular, in public life.

In a statement, the club said its members were “deeply disappointed by the announcement of Hareni’s cancellation,” which it said came one day after their lawyers sent a letter to the university objecting to “ongoing displays of animus and hostility” from university leadership.

• Forward, Rabbis Revolt Over LGBTQ+ Club, Exposing Fight Over Queer Acceptance at Yeshiva University
• Inside Higher Ed, Yeshiva University Ends New LGBTQ+ Club
• NY Jewish Week, Yeshiva University Rescinds Approval for LGBTQ+ Student Club

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• Letter from 48 Cardozo Law Professors, Yeshiva University Should Reverse Its 'Wrong And Unlawful' Ban On LGBTQ+ Student Group (May 2, 2021)
• New York Times, State Judge Rules Yeshiva University Must Recognize LGBTQ Student Club (June 19, 2022)
• Michael Helfand (Pepperdine; Google Scholar), Illegal Discrimination Or Religious Freedom? Understanding Yeshiva University’s Case Against The YU Pride Alliance (Sept. 4, 2022)
• New York Times, Justice Sotomayor Says Yeshiva University Can Bar LGBT Student Club — For Now (Sept. 11, 2022)
• Wall Street Journal, Supreme Court (5-4) Denies Yeshiva University Request To Block State Ruling On Recognition Of LGBTQ Club; Yeshiva Responds By Canceling All Student Groups (Sept. 18, 2022)
• Reuters, Cardozo Law School Fights Fallout From Yeshiva University LGBT Club Case (Sept. 25, 2022)
• Christianity Today, What Christian Colleges Can Glean From The Supreme Court’s ‘Yeshiva’ Case (Oct. 2, 2022)
• Chronicle of Higher Education, ‘Alternative’ or ‘Sham’? Yeshiva U. Created A New LGBTQ Club — But Won’t Recognize The One That Sued (Oct. 30, 2022)
• Inside Higher Ed, Yeshiva University Announces New LGBTQ Club While Continuing Its Legal Battle With The Existing One (Nov. 13, 2022)
• Yeshiva University Commentator, NY Appellate Court Orders Yeshiva University To Recognize LGBTQ Student Group (Jan. 1, 2023)
• New York Times, Yeshiva University Agrees To Recognize LGBTQ Student Group After Five-Year Battle (Mar. 30, 2025)

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