A fight between a Laramie, Wyoming, Christian church elder and the University of Wyoming has come to an end, with school officials giving up their demand to censor the church elder’s speech.
Besides being barred from that censorship, school officials also have agreed top pay $35,000 lawyers’ fees for Todd Schmidt, who had been targeted by the school.
According to a report at Cowboy State Daily, the war began when school officials banned Schmidt from the Wyoming Union facility on campus for posting a sign calling out a transgender student by name.
Schmidt told the publication, “We were thrilled with the decision and we thank God for the victory. It’s a win for all, because everyone’s speech is protected by the First Amendment and UW can’t discriminate against speech it doesn’t like.”
The case ended with the settlement, signed by U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal, between Schmidt and the school’s president, Ed Seidel, and student dean, Ryan O’Neil.
The fight broke out in December 2022 when Schmidt, an elder for a Christian church in Laramie, “displayed a sign from his reserved table at the UW Student Union that read, ‘God created male and female and (transgender student) Artemis Langford is a male,'” the Cowboy State Daily report said.
School officials ordered Schmidt to cover Langford’s name, and than banned him.
Freudenthal earlier had ruled Schmidt’s speech wasn’t harassment, but “part of an earnest debate about gender identity, a matter of public importance,” and said Schmidt likely would win the case with his First Amendment arguments.
Schmidt said he’s been evangelizing on campus for 18 years, and always has experienced some opposition, such as the recent episode where a girl brushed booklets off his table and flipped over some books.
The dispute with the school followed a complaint from Langford, a man who created a scandal at the school in the conservative state by insisting on joining a UW sorority, about Schmidt to police, the report said.
That happened after Schmidt and Langford encountered each other outside the student union and exchanged friendly words.
Schmidt told the publication, “I said, ‘Listen, I’m not your enemy. I’d like to be your friend.’ He said, ‘I don’t consider you my enemy.'”
They then exchanged comments on the Bible. But Langford then called police on Schmidt, launching the school’s fight.
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