The Supreme Court has granted a temporary emergency stay of the New York Appellate Court’s decision in YU Pride Alliance v. Yeshiva University, which ruled that YU must recognize the LGBTQ student group “immediately.” The emergency stay now allows YU to temporarily deny recognition of the Pride Alliance, in favor of protecting YU’s religious beliefs.
YU filed for the emergency stay at the end of August, citing its First Amendment rights as a religious institution. Said Eric Baxter, VP and senior counsel at Becket: “When secular authorities try to tell Yeshiva University that it is not religious, you know something has gone terribly wrong. The First Amendment protects Yeshiva’s right to practice its faith. We are asking the Supreme Court to correct this obvious error.”