Indiana State spars with LGBTQ+ group over work-study ouster

The Pride Center of Terre Haute argued before the Seventh Circuit that Indiana State University violated its First Amendment rights by terminating its participation in the school's work-study program last year, after a lower court had dismissed the nonprofit's suit in March. The university pointed to job postings requiring applicants to be ‘affirming’ of LGBTQ+ people and cited a Justice Department memo on avoiding preferential treatment as justification.

The Pride Center's attorney argued the university was targeting its viewpoint and its right to associate with employees of its choosing, while Indiana State's attorney countered that selective government funding of programs is long-settled law, not viewpoint discrimination, unless there's a clear intent to suppress speech.

Judges on the panel, appointed across three administrations, pressed both sides on where the line sits between funding conditions and censorship, and did not indicate when they would rule.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.