The College Fix

No word from university on if it plans to implement the resolution

The student government at the University of North Texas wants school officials to ban “transphobic” clubs from campus.

The Student Government Association passed a resolution at the end of the semester that demanded immediate suspension for “any UNT Student Organization that engages in harassment, discrimination, hate crimes, and/or violation of UNT policy through transphobic posts, statements, and actions.”

This must be done to “protect the mental, emotional, and physical health of transgender students at UNT.”

The resolution came after the Young Conservatives of Texas chapter hosted an event with Jeff Younger, a former Republican candidate for state house. Younger became a public figure due to his legal battles with his ex-wife over her desire to raise his son as a girl. Leftists interrupted the event with chants of “F*** these fascists.”

The SGA has not responded to emails and Facebook messages sent in the past month that asked about free speech implications and the current status of the resolution.

UNT spokesperson Trista Moxley did not respond to an inquiry on June 9 that asked if the school would implement the resolution or if would inform the student government that it would not.

A free speech group told The College Fix via email that the resolution’s implementation would violate First Amendment protections.

“While preventing discrimination on campuses is important, existing laws, like ones banning harassment or threats, are already in place to combat those issues,” Program Officer Graham Piro with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told The Fix via email on Monday.

“This revolution goes too far by threatening student group funding even where those groups are simply expressing views protected by the First Amendment,” he stated.

FIRE has criticized the legislation but has not directly communicated with UNT officials about the issue.

The University of North Texas (@UNTsocial) student government passed a resolution to immediately suspend any student org that violates “UNT policy through transphobic posts.”

That is blatant viewpoint discrimination and flatly unconstitutional.

— FIRE (@TheFIREorg) April 29, 2022

“Should the university choose to enforce this resolution, student groups could be denied funding because of their views,” Piro stated in his email. “Someone else would just need to complain that what they said is ‘hateful or ‘transphobic.’”

“Because there’s no legal definition for those terms, a huge array of speech could theoretically become subject to punishment,” Piro told The Fix.

“While preventing discrimination on campuses is important, existing laws, like ones banning harassment or threats, are already in place to combat those issues,” he stated. “This resolution goes too far by threatening student group funding even where those groups are simply expressing views protected by the First Amendment.”

“Students have full First Amendment rights on college campuses like UNT,” he told The Fix.

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IMAGE: University of North Texas Student Government Association

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