I thought this quote was excellent:
“The First Amendment freedoms of association, speech, and religion prohibit public colleges and universities from suppressing the expression and beliefs of student groups that officials disagree with,” the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband said in the department’s news release. “The University of Iowa in this case de-registered Business Leaders in Christ because university officials did not like its message. That is forbidden by the Constitution.”
The university officials find their view abhorrent, therefore they are not allowed to exist.
From Campus Reform:
The Department of Justice is getting involved in a First Amendment lawsuit against the University of Iowa, claiming the university violated student rights when it deregistered a Christian student organization.
The DOJ filed a statement of interest supporting the student organization Business Leaders in Christ, according to The Gazette. Business Leaders in Christ sued the University of Iowa after the school de-registered the organization in 2017 upon learning that members are required to sign a statement of faith.
This requirement allegedly violated the school’s Human Rights policy and the University of Iowa deregistered the group after it prohibited a gay member from filling a leadership role.
…
The DOJ’s Statement of Interest makes three arguments against the university. It asserts that the University of Iowa “violated BLinC’s right of expressive association, which forbids exclusion of groups on the ground that officials find their views abhorrent.”
Secondly, the school allegedly discriminated against the Christian organization “based on its views on sexuality in violation of the fundamental free-speech principle [that] keeps the government from discriminating based on differing viewpoints.”
Lastly, the DOJ argues that the university violated BLinC’s “rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment by discriminating against its religious beliefs.”