Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin [official website] signed a bill [text] into law on Monday aimed at protecting student organizations’ rights to manage internal affairs in a manner that is consistent with the group’s religious or political beliefs. The law passed through the House and Senate nearly unopposed, with only three senators and eight House members voting against the law. The legislation amends KRS Chapter 158.183 [text, PDF] to allow students to voluntarily express religious or political viewpoints in public schools and postsecondary institutions. Students and human rights groups fear [The Hill report] the legislation could allow student organizations to exclude people with conflicting lifestyles, specifically LGBTQ students. The law also allows educators to incorporate religious texts into core curriculum.

The Kentucky law illustrates the implications between freedom of religion and LGBTQ rights in the US and abroad. In February the Washington Supreme Court [official website] ruled [JURIST report] against a religious florist who refused to sell flowers to a same-sex couple, stating that the florist violated Washington’s Law Against Discrimination [text]. In June Italian members of parliament voted [JURIST report] in favor of a law recognizing civil unions of same-sex couples. In April Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam announced [JURIST report] that he signed into law a bill allowing therapists to refuse to treat patients based on religious objections, when that patient’s “goals, outcomes or behaviors” conflict with the counselor’s “sincerely held principles.”