Courts Supporting LGBT Rights Over Religious Bias

Yet another blow was struck this week in the battle between LGBT rights and religious-based bias. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that a university was within its rights to dismiss a master's student who refused on religious grounds to counsel a gay client.

Eastern Michigan University (EMU) student Julea Ward, who had been open about her belief that homosexuality is "morally wrong," had last year asked to refer a client to another counselor "rather than engage in any counseling that could 'affirm the client's homosexual behavior,'" reported USA Today.

Ward, who is backed by the conservative legal advocacy group the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), claimed that it was acceptable for counselors to refer a client to another counselor if they disagree with the client's values. That is, however, not in accord with the American Counseling Association ethics rules, to which EMU adheres. These rules require counselors to work in non-judgmental ways even with clients of different values, and ban behavior that shows an "inability to tolerate different points of view." They also ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, among other things. Referrals are permitted, but only "for the good of the client, not for the comfort of the counselor," according to USA Today.

U.S. District Judge George Steeh wrote in his ruling (via the Detroit Free Press), “Plaintiff was not required to change her views or religious beliefs; she was required to set them aside in the counselor-client relationship -- a neutral, generally applicable expectation of all counselors-to-be under the ACA (American Counseling Association) standard.”

The ADF says it will appeal the case. It also filed a separate case this week to defend a counseling student at Augusta State University in Georgia, who claims she was threatened with expulsion if she didn't "complete a remediation plan that includes diversity sensitivity workshops." (Thanks to Alex at Bilerico.)

In a similar case in California, the state Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that conservative Christian doctors who refused to provide infertility treatment to a woman because she is a lesbian were in violation of the state civil rights law that applies to commercial businesses. The Alliance Defense Fund also supported the doctors in that case; Lambda Legal argued for the woman, Guadalupe "Lupita" Benitez. The parties "reached a mutually satisfactory settlement for an undisclosed sum of money" last September.

USA Today also noted the similarities between the EMU case and that of Christian Legal Society vs. Martinez, a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court last month, in which the Court held that the University of California Hastings was within its rights to require all student organizations -- including ones that claim religious grounds for their actions -- to abide by the school's anti-discrimination rules.

Photo credit: Keith Burtis