ACLU releases position on STRAIGHT's charter

The following is the Penn State Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union's position released earlier this week regarding student organizations and their right to affiliate on campus. This position was developed in collaboration with the ACLU of Pennsylvania's executive director, Larry Frankel.

Question: What do the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Alliance (GLBA) at the University of South Alabama at Mobile, the Gay and Lesbian Students' Association (GLSA) at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, the Christian religious organization "Cornerstone" at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and the pro-heterosexuality group STRAIGHT at Penn State, all have in common?

Answer: They have all been denied, at one time, their right to free association and free expression which the First Amendment guarantees.

The First Amendment does not discriminate, nor is it simply about the platonic ideal of a competition of ideas. It provides vital protection for some of the most persecuted groups in the United States. The price of such protection is allowing associations with which we may not personally agree to exist along with those organizations which we believe enhance and support the community.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Penn State Chapter of the ACLU hope that the University will reconsider its decision to deny a charter to the anti-gay group known as STRAIGHT.

State institutions -- like Penn State -- are barred by the United States Constitution from determining which associations are "appropriate" and which are not. The ACLU is particularly sensitive to this problem because we are so often called upon to defend the rights of individuals who are barred from speaking or organizing due to prejudice or bias against their points of view.

In 1991, when the Auburn Gay and Lesbian Alliance (AGLA) applied for permanent status as an officially recognized Auburn University student group, it was rejected on the basis that the AGLA "did not meet the idea[l]s entrusted to the Student Senate on behalf of the students of Auburn." The Alabama State Senate and House both passed resolutions in support of the Student Senate's action. The Alabama legislature subsequently enacted a law which prohibited state universities from providing funds or facilities to groups which "promote" homosexuality.

The Alabama anti-gay law was challenged in 1993 by the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Alliance (GLBA), a student group at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. The GLBA, which was represented by the ACLU, was victorious in the trial court. The trial judge specifically found that the Alabama Law imposed impermissible viewpoint-based limitation on expression and association.

It is important to recognize that while the recent appearance of STRAIGHT has grabbed the attention of the media, the majority of freedom of association cases involve groups which have traditionally faced overt discrimination. In the decade following the Stonewall riots in New York City (riots which focused national attention on the persecution of homosexuals), gay and lesbian organizations sprang up at universities around the country.

The ACLU has successfully represented a number of these groups when they have been denied recognition and/or funding by state universities.

The Undergraduate Student Government supreme court's refusal to grant STRAIGHT organizational status may have been motivated by its desire to protect the University's gay community and to maintain a tolerant school environment, but its actions are misguided. The court's decision clearly discriminates against a specific viewpoint -- the same action the Alabama court ruled unconstitutional.

Penn State would be better off promoting tolerance by sponsoring workshops and educational forums rather than by limiting student dissension. The recent tolerance vigil held on campus is an example of the positive ways the Penn State community can foster intellectual exchange.

The Penn State Chapter of the ACLU, which has a fundamental interest in both tolerance and freedom of expression fully supported this vigil. Additionally, Penn State should reevaluate its decision to deny STRAIGHT status as a legitimate student organization because censorship will not diminish the ranks of the intolerant. Free speech acts as a safety valve for hatred which might otherwise express itself through violence.

Equally important, the utterance of such speech alerts society to the problems of racism, sexism and homophobia, allowing those problems to be addressed in ways which would be impossible if intolerance were forced underground.

The school's sanction of STRAIGHT cannot reasonably be regarded as sponsorship of the ideals upon which it is founded.

Rather it should be seen as a demonstration of Penn State's commitment to a broader promotion of tolerance and protection which will, in the long run provide the greatest benefits to those groups who are offended by STRAIGHT and its goals.

We therefore urge the University to reconsider its policies and the USG supreme court's decision.

Larry Frankel is the executive director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. This response was a collaboration between Frankel and the Penn State chapter of the ACLU.