A federal appeals court has reaffirmed that the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law can legally deny recognition to a Christian students’ group because the group forbids gay and lesbian members, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The law school withholds official recognition and student-activities funds from student organizations that do not abide by its nondiscrimination policy. The Christian Legal Society, which has chapters at more than 160 law schols, had challenged that policy as a violation of its First Amendment rights. The group has settled disputes with other law schools that have allowed its chapters to exclude gay and lesbian students and still receive funds and official recognition.

Tuesday’s decision, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, upholds a ruling issued in April 2006 by the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, in which the judge wrote that denying recognition to the group does not violate its right to free speech. —Charles Huckabee