By Yonat Shimron
(RNS) — Yeshiva University in New York City has settled a long-running lawsuit with its LGBTQ+ club by agreeing to formally recognize the group and give it all the rights and privileges of other clubs on campus.
The settlement ended a bitter four-year battle in which the Modern Orthodox Jewish school had resisted, on religious grounds, recognition of the club, known as the Yeshiva University Pride Alliance…Queer Jewish ally groups welcomed Thursday’s settlement giving the group formal recognition, but said they hoped it would lead to more change.
“This is a good first step and there’s a lot more work to be done so that every LGBTQ+ student is treated and accepted as any other student,” said Miryam Kabakov, executive director of Eshel, a New York-based nonprofit with a mission to build LGBTQ+ inclusive Orthodox Jewish communities. “We ultimately want homophobia to be completely non-existent at Yeshiva University. There is still a long way to go to make attitudinal shifts on the ground.”