Student Sues After Being Dropped from Gay-Positive Counseling Program

A Christian former grad student of Eastern Michigan University student has brought suit against the school, claiming that she was expelled from a counseling program due to her religious beliefs regarding gays.

An April 6 item at The Eastern Echo www.easternecho.com/content/former-graduate-student-files-lawsuit-against-emu reported that Julea Ward had brought suit alleging "irreparable harm" due to having been dropped from the program.

Ward's suit alleges that the former student, who had been enrolled in a counseling program, was subjected to disciplinary action after referring a gay patient elsewhere and subsequently refusing to adjust her belief system in order to accommodate gay patients.

Ward is being represented by the Alliance Defense Fund Center, which promotes Christian views through legal action.

The suit names the University's eight members of the Board of Regents, the article said, as well as the University's President, the dean of education, and a number of professors.

The suit alleges that Ward was told that she would need to revise her beliefs regarding gays, with the alternatives being a hearing or voluntary withdrawal from the program.

According to the suit, Ward opted for the hearing, which found against her on March 12 of this year; on March 26, that decision was reaffirmed, the article reported.

The Eastern Echo story said that a letter of dismissal received by Ward cited two points from the American Counseling Association's ethical code.

One point in the code prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation; another disallows counselors from advising their patients in a manner "inconsistent with counselling goals."

Both of those points were also covered in the program's handbook, the article said.

But lawyers from The Alliance Fund say that Ward's Constitutional rights were violated by the University.

The article quoted Alliance attorney David French as saying, "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."

French pointed out the fact that Ward had made a referral for her client, saying, "Julea did the responsible thing and followed her supervising professor's advice to have the client referred to a counselor who did not have a conscience issue with the very matter to be discussed in counseling."

Christian publication The Voice dubbed Ward's dismissal as a matter of the University seeking to force her to "affirm homosexual behavior."

The Christian site said that the University "requires students in its program to affirm or validate homosexual behavior within the context of a counseling relationship and prohibits students from advising clients that they can change their homosexual behavior."

The Voice article claimed that during the hearing, Ward had her faith "denigrated" and was subjected to "inappropriate and intrusive questions about her religious beliefs."

Another Alliance lawyer, Jeremy Tedesco, was quoted in The Voice as saying, "Julea has a constitutional right not to be compelled to speak a message she disagrees with.

"She acted as a professional counselor should-with great concern both for her beliefs and the client," added Tedesco, going on to say, "The two are not incompatible, but EMU's policies are incompatible with the Constitution."

The University of Eastern Michigan is located in Ypsilanti, a town about 35 miles from Detroit.