One student believes transgender women shouldn’t compete in women’s sports. One said he believes pay disparities between men and women are a fair consequence of the free market. And another said she feels Black Lives Matter is corrosive to race relations in America.
All three are suing the University of Houston System, claiming they are being unlawfully stifled by a harassment policy that prohibits behavior such as slurs, negative stereotyping and denigrating jokes.
“These students want to engage in speech that is arguably covered by the University’s policy, but they credibly fear that the expression of their deeply held views will be considered ‘intimidating,’ ‘denigrating,’ ‘negative stereotyp[es]’ and the like,” the lawsuit reads. “Rather than risk being reported, investigated, or sanctioned, they do not speak as freely as they otherwise would.”
The students — self-described as politically conservative — are represented by Speech First, an organization that has sued several universities across the country over policies that they claim limit free speech. The federal lawsuit against the UH System and university also names university president and system chancellor Renu Khator, Board of Regents Chairman Tilman Fertitta and 13 other university leaders for alleged violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
The university and university system did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under its harassment policy, UH prohibits speech against “protected classes” — who are protected from discrimination based on race, sexual orientation and religion, among other things. Harassment is defined as treatment that is “severe, pervasive, or persistent” and is either humiliating, abusive or threatening conduct that shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group; is intimidating, hostile or abusive in learning, living or working environments; or interferes unreasonably with a person’s academics or work.
Examples include epithets or slurs, negative stereotyping, denigrating jokes and display of written or graphic material, according to the policy.
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The three students suing the university are only described as Students A, B and C, and hold a range of views that they said are unpopular among college students.
Attorneys for Speech First argue that the policy violates the First Amendment by being “overbroad” – allegedly covering some protected speech and chilling students’ free speech and expression, according to the lawsuit. They are also suing under the Fourteenth Amendment.
samantha.ketterer@chron.com