Judge forces university to allow a hate preacher on campus after he vilified a trans student

The University of Wyoming has agreed not to censor an anti-LGBTQ+ preacher’s anti-trans views.

Late last year, Laramie Faith Community Church elder Todd Schmidt was banned from tabling in the university’s student union for one year after he displayed a banner in December 2022 naming and misgendering transgender student Artemis Langford, according to the Casper Star-Tribune. Schmidt objected to Langford’s acceptance into the campus’s chapter of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority the previous September.

Related:

Six sorority sisters sued to try to force out a trans student. They got schooled in federal court.

The judge’s ruling made it clear that the students’ complaint was as terrible as an AI-generated term paper.

Days after displaying his banner in the student union, Schmidt also showed up outside the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house intending to “have a conversation” with members. He was given a trespass warning by police but later told the paper that he was at the sorority house to make a DoorDash delivery.

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

UW’s ban applied only to the preacher’s tabling privileges in the student union, and he continued to preach on campus.

In June, Schmidt sued UW President Ed Seidel and Dean of Students Ryan O’Neil over the tabling ban, arguing that they had violated his First Amendment right to free speech. In August, U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal granted him a preliminary injunction, allowing Schmidt to continue tabling in the student union.

In a September 29 letter to the UW community, Seidel wrote that Freudenthal had ruled that the university had “infringed upon Schmidt’s First Amendment rights and that his public misgendering of a transgender UW student did not constitute illegal harassment.”

In her August 18 order, Freudenthal wrote that “Schmidt engaged in tense debate with students regarding the propriety of a biological male joining a sorority. He did not engage directly with Artemis Langford. His sign was pure speech and not conduct.” She added, “There is no evidence Langford suffered any adverse consequences or experienced interference with academic or work performance.”

“While the court found that the university has the right to regulate certain conduct by those tabling in the student union, the court concluded that Schmidt’s conduct was not illegal harassment or discrimination,” Seidel wrote in September. While Freudenthal had dismissed elements of Schmidt’s case, he continued, the university chose not to challenge the preliminary injunction.

Last week, the university released a statement saying that it had reached an agreement with Schmidt, reinstating his tabling privileges in the student union and agreeing not to censor his “views on the sexual identity of a transgender student.”

UW, however, maintains the right to “sanction possible future misbehavior by Schmidt, such as continuing to engage with students who do not wish to speak with him.” Wyoming Public Media reports that Schmidt had also asked the court to declare the university’s discrimination policy unconstitutional, but Freudenthal declined to do so.

The university also agreed to pay Schmidt $35,000 for legal expenses. According to Cowboy State Daily, Freudenthal signed off on the consent order over the weekend, settling the case.

In April 2023, six members of Kappa Kappa Gamma sued its national chapter and Langford, accusing the sorority of breach of contract for admitting a transgender woman. In August, a judge tossed the women’s lawsuit.