Two law students at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia, have filed a free speech and due process lawsuit against the school president and other leaders, saying their constitutional rights were violated after raising concerns about putting tampons in men’s restrooms.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court, third-year law students Selene Cerankosky and Maria Arcara said the school ordered them to have no contact with another student who proposed stocking all restrooms, including men’s rooms, with menstrual hygiene products.
Cerankosky and Arcara are represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, which describes itself as “one of the leading Christian law firms committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.”
The two students said they were disciplined after participating in a Sept. 27 class-wide online chat, in which a male student, identified in the suit as Mr. Doe, solicited comments about his proposal and said he was the “Law School/Student Representative” for the Graduate and Professional Studies Assembly.
Cerankosky said “allow(ing) biological females into male restrooms to access period products as ‘trans men,'” would also mean “female bathrooms will welcome male occupants.” She said biological female classmates would feel “considerably uncomfortable if there are males using private women’s spaces on campus,” and that women “have a right to feel safe in spaces where they disrobe.”
Arcara posted twice during the conversation, and voiced concerns for her own privacy and safety if a biological man were in the bathroom with her “at a vulnerable time.”
According to the lawsuit, two weeks after the exchange, Cerankosky and Arcara received “no contact” orders from Thomas Bluestein, GMU’s Title IX coordinator and assistant vice president for equity and access services. The suit also names university President Gregory Washington, and Sharnnia Artis, vice president for diversity, equity, inclusion and chief diversity officer, as defendants.
Attorneys for the women said they are being punished for expressing their religious beliefs. According to the lawyers, violation of the no contact order can lead to disciplinary action, including expulsion.
Cerankosky and Arcara’s attorneys said they “suffer stress and anxiety from the future consequences” of the no contact order, since, as law students, applications for admission to the bar often ask questions “relating to discipline by academic institutions.”
The suit seeks to have a federal judge rule the no contact orders unconstitutional, bar them from being enforced and have them removed from the students’ records.
Contacted by WTOP, a school spokesman said, “George Mason University does not comment on pending litigation.”
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