(Reuters) A former University of New Mexico student failed to persuade a federal appeals court that the school violated her free speech rights by rejecting an essay containing anti-lesbian remarks that she had written for a film class.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday said the university had legitimate pedagogical concerns when its professors refused to grade Monica Pompeo's critique of a film about a lesbian romance and suggested that she rewrite it, prompting her withdrawal from the class in the spring of 2012.
Pompeo had written that the 1985 film, "Desert Hearts," could be viewed as "entirely perverse in its desire and attempt to reverse the natural roles of man and woman in addition to championing the barren wombs of these women."
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