Members of the Republican Club at Kingsborough Community College have filed a complaint against the college for not allowing them to distribute anti-abortion literature on its Brooklyn campus. The students also claim that the college also interfered with a planned spring 2010 forum on the "negative consequences" of same-sex marriage.
The charge is being led by Joseph Hayon, who has a long resume: he is the president of the Republican Club, he's run for Congress and the state Assembly, and he identifies himself as the president of the Brooklyn Tea Party (not the band). You can read a confusing rant about him here.
He argues that the KCC applied special rules to their club, which limited their free speech, and was ordered to stop handing out the anti-abortion flyers by campus security. "Last year, KCC officials prevented Mr. Hayon from distributing literature peacefully on campus, not because he violated any written policies...and not because he disturbed the campus in any way. Instead, they did so because of the content of his pro-life speech," the complaint reads.
He also claims that officials delayed the Republican Club-sponsored forum on same-sex marriages by postponing it, moving it to a smaller location, and then requiring that organizers sign a four-page list of conditions. The complaint was brought now because of a fear that those new campus rules might interfere with an upcoming anti-abortion event—college officials said that matter was resolved, and the two sides came to an agreement with the college providing suitable location and staffing. We've contacted Hayon for more information about his claims.
