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News Articles by Bonnie Pritchett/WORLD

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Professor fights pronoun mandate

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (BP) -- A Shawnee State University philosophy professor filed a lawsuit against the Portsmouth, Ohio, school on Nov. 5 for disciplining him because he insisted on using the courtesy title that corresponded to a student's biological sex. Nicholas Meriwether, a 22-year tenured faculty member, uses courtesy titles like "Mr." and "Miss" with students' last names in his classes. But his belief that God created humans immutably male or female puts that practice at odds with the Shawnee State nondiscrimination policy, which demands employees affirm a person's preferred gender. The case could force publicly funded schools to reassess their LGBT nondiscrimination policies, said Meriwether's attorney, Travis Barham with Alliance Defending Freedom. "Public universities have no business compelling people to express views they do not hold," Barham said. "That's the message of this case."

Judicial wordplay redefines locker room reality

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (BP) -- Two courts, one in Pennsylvania and another in Virginia, last week disregarded students' pleas for privacy in public school locker rooms and restrooms. The judges avoided making any distinctions between the sexes and ruled transgender students should be allowed to use the sex-segregated facilities that affirm their gender identity. On May 24, a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Philadelphia took only 15 minutes to unanimously deny an appeal by four Boyertown, Pa., high school students seeking an injunction against ...

Free speech fight returns to the University of Mich.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (BP) -- A new student organization stepping into the college campus free speech fight has sued the University of Michigan over its speech code. In a lawsuit filed May 8, Speech First alleges the University of Michigan's "vaguely worded" speech code protects hearers' sensibilities at the expense of speakers' constitutional right to free speech. The lawsuit marks the first in what could be a series of legal battles brought by the group against offending campuses, Speech First president Nicole Neily said.

Calif. bill already impacting religious expression

LOS ANGELES Calif. (BP) -- The California state legislature's latest effort to outlaw biblical views on sex, marriage and gender identity appears to have claimed its first casualty. Citing concerns over possible legal repercussions from a pending bill, Colorado-based Summit Ministries has canceled a summer conference at Biola University in the Los Angeles area. "The vagueness of the bill has opened up threats to religious communities that the author did not intend," Biola communications director Brenda Velasco said.