Embry-Riddle Doubles Down on Gender Insanity in Violation of Trump Order

An administrator at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott, Arizona, campus doubled down on the school’s draconian speech ban in attempts to silence YAF activists who were merely seeking to organize an on-campus activism event on the biological reality that there are two sexes.

In a message to YAF activists, ERAU Director of Student Engagement Kelsey Tempas issued the following bizarre decree:

“Discussions about the number of genders has[sic] been determined to meet our definition of political content. Thus, per current campus policies this event cannot take place in outdoor or other public spaces (including tabling locations). If you would like to shift your event to a classroom or other private location, I’m happy to facilitate finding you a new location.”

In addition to being an outrageous determination, ERAU and Kelsey Tempas are in violation of President Donald Trump’s recent executive order Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government. President Trump’s order means federally funded entities — including private schools such as ERAU that take federal money — must:

• treat sex as binary and must use the term “sex,” not “gender”
• stop promoting gender ideology (such as by banning one side of the debate while promoting the other)
• respect the rights of students to assert the binary nature of sex

As such, Young America’s Foundation will file a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division if ERAU continues its inexplicable and egregious censorship of scientific fact.

“Saying that indisputable biological reality and genetic science is too dangerous to allow in the light of day is a pathetic and cowardly stance for any institution of ‘higher’ learning to take,” emphasized Young America’s Foundation Chief Communication Officer Spencer Brown. “For Embry-Riddle, which claims to be the ‘world’s largest and most respected university specializing in aviation and aerospace,’ to be too weak to acknowledge the most basic of scientific facts casts serious doubt on its ability to teach the next generation anything.”

This most recent denial of equal rights for conservative students is just the latest in a pattern of discriminatory decisions exhibited by ERAU administrators. As YAF previously documented, administrators at ERAU’s Prescott campus blocked:

• a planned YAF lecture by Chloe Cole
• YAF students from handing out flyers promoting a planned campus lecture with de-transitioner Chloe Cole
• a “Stand With Israel” display consisting of Israeli flags showing support for the State of Israel and Jewish students
• YAF’s iconic 9/11: Never Forget Project memorializing the innocent people murdered in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S.
• a “Biology Basics” activism project intended to counter the lie at the heart of the Left’s transgender insanity
• a “Funeral for Halloween” activism project lampooning politically correct restrictions on costumes alleged to constitute “cultural appropriation”
• a “Where Does Life Begin?” activism project showing the various stages of fetal development to expose students to the reality of life in the womb

Similar disparate bans have been levied against YAF activists at ERAU’s Daytona Beach, Florida, campus.

In January, YAF put the school on notice that its speech ban and selective enforcement of it — to silence conservative students while allowing leftist students to hold an event observing the “Trans Day of Visibility” — was a disgraceful policy that continues to tarnish ERAU’s previously proud history.