Law Schools

T14 Law School Embraces Hot New Trend Of Promoting 'Civility' By Inviting Hate Groups To Campus

Law schools keep getting played by these people.

By
on

Dear NLaw Community,

On Monday evening, the Federalist Society announced a speaker event with Erin Hawley, Senior Counsel at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated the ADF an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group for––among other reasons––advocating for mandatory, state-sanctioned sterilization of transgender people; pushing the harmful and homophobic fear that LGBTQ+ people, adults and children alike, are “groomers,” perverts, and pedophiles; and arguing for overturning Lawrence v. Texas, the 2003 landmark decision that ruled it unconstitutional to criminalize adult consensual same-sex sexual activity.

We can hardly say we are surprised by FedSoc’s decision to host this event. Just sixteen months ago, FedSoc brought another ardent homophobe and transphobe, Josh Hammer, to campus to espouse his anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs. That event was met with a peaceful silent protest from the student body, led by OUTLaw, and was well-received by the administration, professors, and even Mr. Hammer himself. That event was also organized by FedSoc’s current President, Bailey Cordonnier, and Executive Vice President, Dominic Bayer, in their prior roles as Events Co-Chairs.

We are disappointed, but again, not surprised, that this event is also happening just a week after these same two individuals used funding from the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Engagement (DEIE) to host an event arguing for “civility.” As we noted to DEIE staff prior to the event, “civility” has long been used as a white supremacist dog whistle to silence marginalized groups from speaking out when they are being attacked. We expressed our disappointment at that time, and express it again now, that these two students, who actively harmed NLaw’s LGBTQ+ community just last year, received DEIE’s funding and institutional weight to create a preemptive shield from pushback for an event like last year’s Josh Hammer event––an event frustratingly similar to the one later this week with Erin Hawley.

Homophobia and transphobia should have no place at Northwestern or in society at large. And yet these bigoted viewpoints are features, not bugs, of the Federalist Society’s programming. When an organization consistently brings anti-LGBTQ+ speakers to campus and when the organizers responsible for bringing those speakers to campus are rewarded with the group’s top two positions the following year, there is no other way to put it: the Northwestern chapter of the Federalist Society stands for anti-LGBTQ+ hate.

We denounce the Federalist Society’s publicly uncivil views. We are pained by DEIE’s failure to conduct due diligence in awarding a fellowship to Bailey and Dominic and failure to heed LGBTQ+ student leaders when we told DEIE the exact intent behind the civility event. We hope DEIE staff and the Law School administration as a whole do better moving forward to be true allies of the LGBTQ+ community. Our community needs you to do better.

To our NLaw LGBTQ+ community, know that we are here for you and will continue to fight for you, always. To members of FedSoc who disagree with the hateful viewpoints championed by your organization, do not let others’ bigotry speak for you; speak up for yourself and the students who are being targeted, including your classmates and your friends. To our allies, we need you now more than ever.

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