Yeshiva University asks Supreme Court to let it block LGBTQ student club

By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter

Yeshiva University filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court on Monday, seeking to block a court order requiring the New York university to recognize a “Pride Alliance” LGBTQ student club.

In court papers, the school says that “As a deeply religious Jewish university, Yeshiva cannot comply with that order because doing so would violate its sincere religious beliefs about how to form its undergraduate students in Torah values.”

Lawyers for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, representing Yeshiva, argued that the lower court’s order is an “unprecedented” intrusion into the University’s religious beliefs and a clear violation of Yeshiva’s First Amendment rights.

The Supreme Court has asked for a response to the school’s petition by Friday.

The New York Court of Appeals refused to review the denial of a stay, prompting school officials to petition the high court, but it has not yet ruled on the merits of the dispute.

The application comes as the conservative majority of the court ruled in favor of religious conservatives in two cases last term. In addition, in 2021, the court sided with a Catholic foster care agency that refused to consider same-sex couples as potential foster parents.

Justice Samuel Alito has repeatedly called for greater protections for the free exercise of religion including during a July speech in Rome. “Religious liberty is under attack in many places,” Alito said.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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