In 2007 a California church-owned high school was sued for suspending two students who allegedly violated its code of conduct by engaging in a same-sex relationship. Even though the court eventually ruled in the school’s favor, the school was forced to incur legal expenses in order to fend off this attack upon its right to set its own standards of eligibility and conduct. Although this case did not involve married student housing, it illustrates that religious institutions are not immune from litigation used as a weapon to attack religious beliefs that are opposed to homosexuality or same-sex marriage.

There is a consensus among legal experts that elevating same-sex marriage to the level of a constitutional right will give rise to infringements of religious liberty on many fronts, including in the area of married student housing eligibility. Here are just a few examples:

• Peter Steinfels, “Will Same-Sex Marriage Collide With Religious Liberty?,” New York Times (June 10, 2006)
• Barbara Bradley Hagerty, “When Gay Rights and Religious Liberties Clash,” National Public Radio (June 16, 2008)
• Maggie Gallagher, “Banned in Boston: The coming conflict between same-sex marriage and religious liberty,” The Weekly Standard (May 15, 2006)
• Heritage Foundation, Panel Discussion Transcript: “Same-Sex Marriage and the Fate of Religious Liberty” (May 22, 2006).

Vote Yes on Proposition 8 to protect the right of church-sponsored schools to make residents in their married housing follow the school's behavior standards.