Gut and Go: Allowing Discriminatory Practices in Collegiate Organizations

Included Bills:

• SB 419: Expanding Opportunities for Publicly Funded Discrimination

While the ACLU of Kansas appreciates legitimate efforts to protect freedom of speech and believes college campuses are public forums, other provisions in this bill undercut basic values of fairness and freedom of expression. By expanding existing loopholes, this bill will allow government-funded student organizations to exclude individuals from membership or leadership based on discriminatory criteria. This legislation would require public institutions to subsidize organizations, including ethnic supremacist political organizations, that actively exclude and discriminate against students based on political beliefs. Free speech must be protected, but taxpayers should not be compelled to support outright discrimination and exclusion under the guise of free speech.