Counseling Gays Ruling

A student who says her Christian beliefs prevented her from counseling gays has lost her lawsuit against Augusta State University. A federal judge says the school's counseling program was justified in throwing Jennifer Keeton out of the program. Keeton is represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, which has not decided whether to appeal the decision. An appeals court had already refused to block her expulsion from the program, saying her lawsuit was likely to fail and she was looking for special treatment. In a similar suit, an appeals court told Eastern Michigan University that it should not have expelled Julea Ward for referring gay clients to other counselors who did not share her Christian beliefs. The Michigan House passed a bill recently that would stop programs at public schools from taking action against students who did the same. The Michigan Senate hasn't weighted in on the legislation yet.