Court Opinion

ID: 9461355
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:12:20.347146+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:01.071580
License: Public Domain

HEANEY, Circuit Judge
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent. The record that we have before us on this appeal from an order granting a preliminary injunction is incomplete. It does show, however:
1. That the primary purpose of the Jaycees is to develop young men as leaders through community involvement;1
2. That forty-five percent of all monies received by the U. S. Jaycees comes from the federal government;
3. That the federal funds are used by the Jaycees in community projects throughout the United States;
4. That much of the leadership training received by the Jaycees comes through participation in these govern-mentally financed projects;
5. That women are excluded from membership in the Jaycees and thus deprived of the opportunity to share in the leadership development opportunities made possible by the federal funds and that no justification for this policy has been demonstrated;
6. That the K. C. Jaycees amended their by-laws to admit women to membership in conflict with the by-laws of the U. S. Jaycees; and
7. That in response to the amendment of the local by-laws, the U. S. Jaycees cancelled the TOYM Congress scheduled to be held in Kansas City and threatened to revoke the charter of the K. C. Jaycees.
In the light of these facts, it is difficult to see how we can, at this stage of the matter, decide that Judge Collinson abused his discretion in enjoining the removal of the convention. It is clear that the K. C. Jaycees will suffer irreparable injury by the removal. Moreover, it is probable that Judge Collinson’s finding of unlawful sex discrimination will be upheld when the matter is fully tried on the merits. See Minnesota Bearing Company v. White Motor Company, 470 F.2d 1323 (8th Cir. 1973).
Judge Collinson’s preliminary findings that the federal government and the U. *1035S. Jaycees are partners or joint ventur-ers in many of the leadership programs of the U. S. Jaycees is supported by this record. The substantial financing by the federal government contributes directly to the prestige of the U. S. Jaycees and to the prestige of its local chapters and its members. The government financing assists the Jaycees in achieving its stated purpose of developing leadership in young men through community involvement.
The by-laws of the U. S. Jaycees make it clear that they are not merely an organization designed to engage in good works. They are rather an organization primarily designed to train future leaders for civic and business responsibilities. It appears from this record that the government subsidizes the Jaycees in accomplishing its primary goal. If this proves to be the case when all the evidence is in, the subsidization must end unless the Jaycees are willing to open their membership to all young men and women who desire to participate in their program on a nondiscriminatory basis. Subsidizing, training programs foreclosed to women is a significantly greater involvement by government than was present in Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis, 407 U.S. 163, 92 S.Ct. 1965, 32 L.Ed.2d 627 (1972). The governmental involvement here is more like that in Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority, 365 U.S. 715, 81 S.Ct. 856, 6 L.Ed.2d 45 (1961), for here, as in Burton, government funds support the discriminatory conduct of the U. S. Jaycees.
The fact that no federal monies are spent directly on the TOYM Congress does not obscure the fact that federal monies support the discriminatory training programs of the U. S. Jaycees and that it seeks to perpetuate the exclusion of women from those programs by means of the sanction imposed here. In my view, this satisfies the nexus requirement of Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co., 419 U.S. 345, 95 S.Ct. 449, 42 L.Ed.2d 477. The sanction of relocating the Congress is directly related to the continued effectiveness of the discriminatory by-law and the continued disadvantage placed upon women who desire to develop their leadership abilities and thereby enhance their possible success in the world of government or business.
The federal support of the U. S. Jaycees that enables them to attain their stated purpose of leadership development of young men goes to the core of the membership policy here attacked. A distinction between the membership policy’s effect on the management of the community programs and the holding of the TOYM Congress cannot realistically be made. The removal of the TOYM Congress is in direct response to the admittance of women to the K. C. Jaycees and will hinder their ability to develop leadership potential by association with the Jaycees program.
The development of community leaders is essential to our democracy and should be encouraged by all responsible persons. But when the federal government becomes involved to the degree present here, the leadership development opportunities it supports must be available to women as well as men.

. U. S. Jaycees Policy 1-1, entitled “Definition,” states:
A Jaycee organization is a constructive action organization of young men who devote a portion of their time to community service in the public interest, developing young men as leaders of their community.
U. S. Jaycees By-Law 2-1, entitled “Purpose and Creed,” states:
A. This Corporation shall be a non-profit Corporation, organized for such educational and charitable purposes as will promote and foster the growth and development of young men’s civic organizations in the United States, designed to inclucate in the individual membership of such organization a spirit of genuine Americanism and civic interest, and as a supplementary educational institution to provide them with opportunity for personal development and achievement and an avenue for intelligent participation by young men in the affairs of their community, state and nation, and to develop true friendship and understanding among young men of all nations.