Religious freedom bill stirs controversy in Kansas Statehouse

? Religious groups and civil rights advocates clashed Monday over a bill that would require public colleges and universities to recognize and support campus student organizations that restrict their membership to those who share their religious beliefs.

Supporters say it’s a response to what they see as a growing trend on campuses around the country — especially campuses with “open door” policies that require groups to be open to all students — where exclusive religious groups have been denied funding, forced to meet off campus, or charged high fees for using campus facilities.

“We are seeing more and more attempts to bring in policies, under this sort of red herring of discrimination, against religious organizations,” Wichita attorney Craig Shultz told the House Federal and State Affairs Committee. “In other words, the community is saying because you are a religious organization, we can discriminate against you.”

Shultz is a past president of the Christian Legal Society, a group that has been at the center of the controversy over religious student groups since 2010, when it lost a battle at the U.S. Supreme Court case over its efforts to be recognized by the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

In that case, the court ruled for the university because the state of California has a statute prohibiting universities from using public funds — including student fees that all students are required to pay — to support groups that are not open to all students.

CLS requires its members to attest in writing to their belief in certain strict Christian tenets, and it bars membership to those who engage in “unrepentant homosexual behavior.”

Critics say passage of the bill would lead to public funding of discrimination on a much wider basis because some religious groups also restrict their membership on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

“It’s going to make campus discrimination legal against all kinds of people,” said Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas, a gay rights and civil rights advocacy group.

Jennifer Parson, a Kansas University graduate who is now president of the Douglas County chapter of the National Organization for Women, said many religious groups also discriminate on the basis of gender.

“Gender discrimination is very, very real in religion in this country,” Parson said.

Senate Bill 175 is one of dozens of “religious freedom” bills being debated in state capitols around the country, some of which are creating significant backlash. It passed the Senate earlier this month by a vote of 30-8.

In Indiana, Republican Gov. Mike Pence signed a broader religious freedom bill that extends protection to any individual or business that discriminates on the basis of religious beliefs.

That law has sparked protests and threats of boycotts against the state just as the city of Indianapolis is preparing to host the NCAA Final Four men’s basketball tournament.

Rep. Steve Brunk, R-Wichita, who chairs the committee, said the Kansas bill is much narrower than the Indiana law, and he denied that its intent is to legalize discrimination.

“This bill is about protecting the First Amendment to the Constitution, about the free ability to be able to assemble, the free ability to be able to exercise your right of speech, and your free ability to be able to promote your sincerely held religious beliefs,” Brunk said. “I understand the opponents really tried to change this into a discrimination bill, but actually it’s the opposite.”

Brunk said he plans to have the committee debate and vote on the bill Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.