Graduate Student Sues Over Attempt To Impose Remediation Plan To Change Her LGBT Beliefs

A graduate student in the counseling program at Augusta State University in Georgia filed a civil rights lawsuit Wednesday alleging that her free speech, free exercise, equal protection and due process rights were infringed by conditions imposed on her in order for her to remain in the University's program. The complaint (full text) in Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley, (SD GA, filed 7/21/2010), alleges that the school required student Jennifer Keeton to undergo a remediation program because her Christian beliefs regarding homosexuality are inconsistent with counsellor's' code of ethics and with research that shows that sexual orientation is not a lifestyle or choice, but is a state of being. The faculty claimed that Keeton's beliefs reflect an improper professional disposition toward potential gay and transgender clients. Keeton's attorneys also filed a memorandum in support of her motion for a preliminary injunction (full text). Alliance Defense Fund issued a press release announcing the filing of the case.