The University of Louisville has reversed course and issued a restraining order against a student who distributed anti-gay literature (above) in an LGBT studies class last month.
University administrators initially said the student could return to the class as long as he provided 48 hours notice, prompting outrage among campus LGBTQ advocates and students who said they felt unsafe.
The Courier Journal reports that the university has now issued a non-contact order to the student.
“University spokesman John Karman confirmed the order to The Courier Journal Thursday evening,” the newspaper reported. “He wasn't able to confirm how long the order will be in effect. A no-contact order is a restraining order that means a person has been instructed to not have any contact or communication with another person.”
Professor Ricky Jones, who chairs the university's Pan-African studies department and helped lead the push for administrators to take further action, announced the decision on Twitter.
“This is all we wanted,” Jones wrote.
The incident occurred in a class taught by pioneering black lesbian professor Kaila Story, who reported it to the administration. In a subsequent meeting with Story and her class, university President Neeli Bendapudi agreed to provide additional security, but said administrators' hands were tied because the student didn't violate any laws or school policies.
The student distributed a pamphlet published by the Christian group Living Waters Publications, which begins by describing a woman who is locked in a car on a train track and is rescued at the last minute from being hit by an oncoming train she didn't see.
“Perhaps you believe you are gay, or maybe you are sympathetic toward homosexuality and you think that what people do sexually is their own business,” the pamphlet read. “Whatever the case, I want to convince you that you are sitting in a car on a railroad track with a train coming, and you don't know it.”
Watch a report on Bendapudi's meeting with students below.
