The Center for Law & Religious Freedom

There is a misperception that all the trouble started in 2004 . . . .

What some have said:
 
"[U]ntil a few years ago, CLS had no problem with openly gay and lesbian members.  The trouble arose when the national CLS started insisting that its chapters make prospective members take a pledge that, as interpreted by the national organization, required excluding "unrepentant" sexual minorities."  Mike Dorf, Court Grants Cert in Rousseau v. Holmes (sorta), Dorf on Law, December 8, 2009.
 
“Five years ago, however, the new leaders of the CLS chapter at Hastings declared they would not agree to accept students who are gays or lesbians or who do not adhere to traditional Christian beliefs.”  David Savage, Supreme Court Will Decide Appeal of Christian Group, LA Times, December 8, 2009
 
"The Christian Legal Society (CLS) at the Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco was stripped of its registered student organization status at the college because it refused to allow gay and lesbian students to become voting members or officers of the group."  Christian Science Monitor, December 8, 2009.
 
The real issue:
 
CLS chapters have been encountering problems since at least 1993 from University administrators who claim that CLS either discriminates on the basis of religion or sometimes on the basis of sexual orientation.
 
Two scholarly articles detailing university conduct between 1993 and 96.
 
CLS student chapters across the nation have had to resort to litigation after being threatened with loss of access to campus because of alleged discrimination based on religion or sexual orientation.
 
Unfortunately, other student groups sometimes actively pressure a law school to deny CLS the same recognition they enjoy.