Yeshiva University launches new LGBTQ student group amid lawsuit blocking recognition of YU Pride Alliance

Yeshiva University on Monday announced the creation of a new LGBTQ student group amid an ongoing legal battle with the YU Pride Alliance, an existing LGBTQ club the university has refused to recognize over its religious beliefs.

The new university-approved club, the Kol Yisrael Areivim Club, which roughly translates to “all responsible for each other,” will provide a space for LGBTQ students at the Jewish university to support one another “within the Torah framework,” Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, told reporters Monday during a press call.

According to Baxter, who is representing Yeshiva University in a case brought against the school by the YU Pride Alliance, the formation of the Kol Yisrael Areivim Club will not resolve the parties’ legal woes, and the lawsuit will continue.

The YU Pride Alliance has for more than a year argued it deserves to be recognized by Yeshiva University as an official student organization and afforded the same rights as other recognized clubs on campus.

In June, the New York County Supreme Court, where Yeshiva University is located, ruled that the school must recognize the YU Pride Alliance as an official student group because the university is not a religious institution and therefore does not qualify for an exemption to a New York City human rights law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

An appeal to overturn the court’s decision was denied in August. In September, Yeshiva University and the YU Pride Alliance agreed to delay the club’s recognition while the school filed another appeal.

In a letter sent Monday to students and faculty, Yeshiva University announced the launch of the Kol Yisrael Areivim Club, which it said presents a “traditional Orthodox alternative to YU Pride Alliance.” The club has been approved by the school’s administration and endorsed by senior leadership.

“The club will provide students with space to grow in their personal journeys, navigating the formidable challenges that they face in living a fully committed, uncompromisingly authentic halachic life within Orthodox communities,” reads the letter, a copy of which was sent to The Hill. Halacha, or Jewish religious law, does not recognize same-sex relationships.

According to Monday’s letter, the Kol Yisrael Areivim Club was created using input from current and past LGBTQ undergraduate students, as well as the recommendations of rabbis and professors at the school.

“We are eager to support and facilitate the religious growth and personal life journeys of all of our students to lead authentic Torah lives, and we hope that this Torah based initiative with a new student club tailored to Yeshiva’s undergraduate LGBTQ students will provide them with meaningful support to do so,” Rabbi Ari Berman, the university’s president, said Monday in a statement.

Yeshiva University in the letter also announced additional efforts to strengthen existing campus supports for LGBTQ students, including sensitivity training for faculty and staff and the enforcement of strict anti-harassment, anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies.

In a statement to The Hill, the YU Pride Alliance called the Kol Yisrael Areivim Club’s launch a “desperate stunt” by Yeshiva University officials to distract from calls for change from donors, alumni, faculty and the broader community. The group said the new club is a “sham” because it was not formed or led by students and does not have any members.

“Rather, it is a feeble attempt by YU to continue denying LGBTQ students equal treatment as full members of the YU student community,” the YU Pride Alliance said.

This story has been updated with comments from the YU Pride Alliance.

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