3 members of the Christian Legal Society are suing the University of Idaho following an incident that resulted in no-contact orders. The students allege that the university infringed on their right to freely express their religion.
On April 1 a moment of silence was held by the UI College of Law following an incident on UI’s Boise campus with a homophobic slur being written on a whiteboard.
According to the lawsuit, members of the CLS, Peter Perlot, Mark Miller and Ryan Alexander, were approached by another student at the gathering. The student asked why the society enforced the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.
The three claim they “respectfully explained” this belief, one of the CLS members leaving a note saying they would be “happy to discuss this further” with the inquiring student.
Contrasting these statements, the student claims instead that the three had told her to go to hell.
Later at an American Bar Association panel on April 4, several people denounced the CLS members’ actions at the gathering, including the student they spoke with. At the panel, students said that the CLS had bigoted views that were anti-LGBTQ+.
CLS member Alexander spoke up at the panel, countering the claims of the student he spoke with.
Following these two encounters, the university filed a no-contact order on behalf of the student against the three CLS members. The lawsuit claims that the students did not receive notice of any allegations made against them or have the opportunity to defend themselves.
Now, Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys are representing the three students in a case against the university.
“University of Idaho administrators cannot punish students because they dislike or disagree with their deeply held beliefs—that is religious discrimination and, unfortunately, necessitates this lawsuit,” Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer stated in a press release.
The Argonaut will continue to follow this story as more information becomes available.
Haadiya Tariq can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @haadiyatariq