Exclusive | UC colleges sued over policy that punishes students for ‘misgendering’ classmates

A wild University of California system policy that allegedly punished students for not using another person’s preferred pronouns has gotten the school into legal trouble courtesy of a lawsuit filed by a conservative watchdog.

UC’s Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy impinges on free speech rights, according to the complaint filed by Defending Education and obtained by The California Post.

“UC leaves no doubt that its ban on hostile-environment harassment covers protected speech,” legal representatives for Defending Education said in the documents.

One section of the policy lists derogatory slurs related to sexual orientation as an example of “harassment.” A person simply laughing at someone for acting a certain way would violate the policy, it added. Verbal speech like that is legally protected, Defending Education claimed.

The policy also lists “intentional or repeated use of a name or pronoun inconsistent with the individual’s gender identity” as an example of harassment.

The policy’s reach is overly broad, according to Defending Education’s lawsuit, which notes that “prohibited conduct” can occur online or via text message — not just on campus — and requires school employees to report suspected violations.

The lawsuit argues the penalties are severe, including expulsion from the UC system, revocation of academic degrees, and bans from certain campus activities and locations.

It also points to student training materials that classify complaints about being “misgendered” as prohibited conduct and state that individuals cannot be asked to use a bathroom that does not align with their gender identity.

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Such draconian rules have real consequences, Defending Education claimed.

“These students want to engage in speech covered by the SVSH Policy, but they credibly fear that the expression of their deeply held views will lead to punishment,” it said.

The organization said it has testimony from students who feel pressured under the policy. One of them, a senior at UCLA, claimed using non-matching pronouns would violate her religious views but she is forced to “self censor.”

Two other students at UC San Diego and UC Irvine also expressed similar struggles in the complaint and all have “no ill-will towards people who identify as transgender or nonbinary.” But they said they feel they could not even criticize school policies.

“It is a long-standing principle of constitutional law, frequently repeated by the US Supreme Court, that individuals cannot be compelled to express messages with which they disagree,” Sarah Parshall Perry, Vice President and Legal Fellow at Defending Education, said in a statement.

“California has effectively silenced students in the UC system by forcing them to affirm one particular viewpoint on gender identity, and biological sex.”

The UC System did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuits adds on to the string of race-and-gender-based controversies embroiling California’s higher education system.

The Trump administration has been investigating discrimination in hiring and admissions against white and male applicants at multiple schools, and funding had been frozen over alleged civil rights violations and transgender policies.