Gay Students Stage Basketball Sit-In at John Carroll U.

Gay students and supporters at John Carroll University staged a sit-in on the basketball court prior to the start of a game last week to protest the university's refusal to add sexual orientation to the official anti-bias policy at the institution. The protest, filmed and then placed on YouTube, ended when students were escorted -- without arrests -- from the court. University officials noted that draft "community standards" being prepared by the university explicitly protect gay and lesbian students and would bar discrimination against them. Officials said that the employment policy that does not include sexual orientation is based on state and federal statutes, which do not cover sexual orientation. "Rather than rely on the limitations provided under current federal and state law, the university strives to achieve a much higher standard based upon its Jesuit and Catholic mission and teachings," said a statement from the university.