YAF sues University of Minnesota over free speech of students, guest speakers

Conservative students are suing the University of Minnesota, arguing it is compelling pro-trans speech on campus.

Young America’s Foundation (YAF), represented by the Southeastern Legal Foundation, has filed a lawsuit against multiple University of Minnesota policies that allegedly violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The complaint, submitted in June, cites the school’s sexual harassment policy, “pronoun policy” and anti-discrimination policy, among other university documents, as chilling conservative beliefs on gender.

The university’s pronoun policy ensures equal opportunity “to individuals of all gender identities and gender expressions” and says university members are “expected to use the names, gender identities, and pronouns specified to them by other University members.”

It further argues gender can be “female, male, transgender, genderqueer, genderfluid, gender nonconforming, Two Spirit, intersex, non-binary, agender, genderless, and many others.”

The school also purports that “using the chosen names, pronouns and other gendered references of others conveys a basic level of respect for them and their identities” and that “intentional or repeated misuse of pronouns should be reported.”

Students could face a range of disciplinary actions, including warnings, expulsions and the withholding or revocation of their degrees.

So-called “misgendering” could also be considered a violation of the university’s anti-discrimination policy, which lists gender identity and expression as protected characteristics.

The University of Minnesota defines “sexual harassment” as any behavior or speech that “creates a work or educational environment that an individual finds, and a reasonable person would find, to be intimidating, hostile or offensive.”

Many of these policies apply not only to students and university employees but also to guest speakers, whom YAF regularly hosts. 

The University of Minnesota was already in hot water earlier this year for allegedly discriminating against conservative speakers such as Ben Shapiro, Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos. 

“Defendants cannot show that they have a compelling interest to justify restricting speech,” the lawsuit argues. “Requiring individuals to use preferred pronouns and other gendered personal references violates the protection against compelled speech afforded by the First Amendment.”

According to the complaint, students have admitted to censoring their own speech and will continue to do so “to avoid any academic issues or risk being subject to investigation or punishment under the policies.”

Forcing people to verbally affirm transgender identities – even when it violates their personal beliefs – is blatant viewpoint discrimination, the lawsuit concludes, and a clear violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

Nevertheless, the University of Minnesota’s 72,000 students will soon be returning to school under the current regime, as the lawsuit’s first hearing will not take place until December.

“The fact that there are any universities in the US attempting to suppress certain views that they deem wrong is a complete outrage,” said YAF President and former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. “Not only is this unfair to students, and particularly conservative students, but it’s completely unconstitutional.”

The University of Minnesota, however, insisted it was committed to both free speech and a “safe, inclusive learning environment.”

“The University is deeply committed to both protecting freedom of speech and fostering a safe, inclusive learning environment for all students,” its statement said. “Because this involves active litigation, we cannot comment on the specific allegations of the lawsuit at this time.”