They challenged discrimination at Georgetown: 1980

Washington Area Spark posted a photo:

A group of gay Georgetown University students filed suit against the university and its law department April 30, 1980 charging the school “created a chilling effect upon the speech and association rights” of gay students by denying charters to their organizations.

Some of those involved in the suit are (from left to right): James J. Ryan, student; Clint Hockenberry, student; Ronald Bogard, attorney; and Laura J. Rayburn, adjunct law professor.

Two student groups: The Gay People of Georgetown University and the Gay Rights Coalition of Georgetown University Law Center were both denied charters by the school, despite being approved by the student government in the former case and the student-faculty governing body in the latter case.

The suit relied on the city’s 1977 Human Rights law.

The suit worked its way through the courts until the full U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in November 1987 that the University did not have to officially recognize the groups, but could not deny them funds.

A settlement in the case followed where it was agreed that Georgetown would fund the groups, but not recognize them and that the groups could not hold events on campus where the majority of participants were non students.

The court decision and settlement caused a riff within the Catholic community that led to Sen. William Armstrong (R-Col.) offering an amendment to cut off city funding if D.C. didn’t change its Human Rights law.

The amendment passed, but was struck down by the courts.

Armstrong then offered another amendment—directly modifying the city’s laws that passed both houses of Congress.

The law permitted religiously-affiliated institutions to refuse to recognize gay student groups.

Gay legal rights continue to be under attack with the U.S. Supreme Court rulings that religious objections must be taken into account. A pending case will determine whether LGBTQ people fall under 1964 federal civil rights act prohibiting discrimination.

For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskcVHcxD

Photo by Brig Cabe. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.