By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
A student at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is suing the school for dismissing her because she refused to endorse homosexuality and to recant her beliefs while undergoing “disciplinary proceedings” at the school.
According to a report by WorldNetDaily.com, graduate student Julea Ward filed suit after being dismissed from the school’s counseling training because she violated the school’s requirement that all students in its program affirm or validate homosexual behavior. The school’s policy also prohibits students from advising clients that they can change their homosexual behavior.
David French, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund for Academic Freedom (ADF) said, “When a public university has a prerequisite of affirming homosexual behavior as morally good in order to obtain a degree, the school is stepping over the legal line.”
Ms. Ward was informed by the school that “the only way she could stay in the graduate school counseling program would be if she agreed to undergo a ‘remediation’ program … to see the ‘error of her ways,'” the ADF said.
The goal was to have Ward “change her ‘belief system,’ as it relates to counseling about homosexual relationships, conforming her beliefs to be consistent with the university’s views,” the law firm said.
When she refused, she was given the choice of leaving voluntarily or having a formal review.
Ms. Ward was dismissed from the program March 12, and the dean of the college of education affirmed the decision on March 26, according to the ADF.
The school has refused to comment publicly on the case.
“Julea has a constitutional right not to be compelled to speak a message she disagrees with,” said ADF legal counsel Jeremy Tedesco, adding that “EMU’s policies are incompatible with the Constitution.”
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