The students also expressed concern over Laycock’s support of retail giant Hobby Lobby, which is suing the federal government for the right to deny coverage for contraceptives for its employees, citing religious concerns. Laycock filed an amicus brief supporting Hobby Lobby, asserting that federal religious freedom law protects for-profit corporations and their owners.

Lewis and Montenegro are seeking, among other things, university-funded travel expenses and cellphone records for the past 2½ years. The students wrote that the request — a copy of which was sent to The Daily Progress — was in the public interest, seeking “a full, transparent accounting of the resources used by Professor Laycock which may be going towards halting the progress of the LGBT community and to erode the reproductive rights of women across the country.”

Lewis, who heads campus activist group Queer and Allied Activism, said he and Montenegro wrote the letter and made the request to start a discussion. They also want to make Laycock aware that his arguments are being used to support discriminatory policies, Lewis said.

“The strategy of the FOIA request is to put everything on the table,” he said. “We don’t think he’s doing anything wrong; it’s just looking at whether he knows how it’s being used.”