FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit Friday on behalf of two female law students who expressed concerns about men accessing women’s restrooms at George Mason University’s law school.
Third-year law students Selene Cerankosky and Maria Arcara expressed concerns after a male classmate informed the Antonin Scalia Law School Class of 2025 GroupMe chat of his proposal to add feminine hygiene products to male restrooms.
After the male student asked for comments on his proposal, Cerankosky responded to the post saying that, if women accessed men’s restrooms, she feared men would try to use private female spaces, which would violate her safety and privacy, as well as her religious convictions about human sexuality.
Arcara said she agreed. The male student accused them of bigotry and complained to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Two weeks later, the Arlington, Virginia, school, without explanation or warning, issued no-contact orders that prohibit the women from contact with the male student.
“GMU was wrong to censor me for expressing my beliefs, especially without giving me a chance to defend myself,” Cerankosky said in a statement to The Daily Signal. “Universities should be the place where free speech is celebrated the most.”
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Friday, alleging the school violated the students’ First and 14th Amendment rights by issuing no-contact orders after they shared concerns about adding feminine hygiene products to male restrooms in a private law student group chat.
The school unlawfully used its Title IX and sexual harassment policies against the students because of their religious beliefs and privacy concerns, according to attorneys with ADF, a conservative nonprofit law firm.
“Universities—including law schools—must preserve the marketplace of ideas for all in order to encourage civil discourse for our future attorneys, politicians, judges, and leaders,” said ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom.
“Selene and Maria respectfully voiced their opinion about biological differences between men and women and how the other student’s proposal blurs those lines at the expense of safety, privacy, and religious conviction,” Langhofer continued in a statement.
George Mason’s policy allows the university to punish students whose opinions about controversial issues differ from that of the school, according to Langhofer. As a result, Cerankosky’s and Arcara’s law careers are in danger.
“We are urging the court to restore the students’ First Amendment rights and order George Mason to stop enforcing its policy against protected expression,” Langhofer said.
GMU’s policy allows the school to include protected speech as “sexual harassment,” according to ADF’s complaint.
The policy also does not require the DEI office to determine that sexual harassment occurred, give notice to students before they are disciplined, advise the accused of the allegations, or allow students to appeal “supportive measures,” such as the no-contact orders.
The students potentially face expulsion from school and scrutiny in their legal careers as a result of the no-contact orders, the lawsuit explains.
“In America, you can’t be punished simply for stating what you believe—that’s the law,” Arcara told The Daily Signal. “Scalia Law is training the future generation of lawyers, and shutting down speech on campus means that GMU is failing in that mission. Selene and I had the right to oppose putting tampons in the male restrooms, and we should not be prevented from speaking to our fellow students for doing so.”
Attorneys filed the case with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division.
George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.