Saturday, September 03, 2011

University Investigates Christian Student Group's Removal of Openly Gay Member

Baptist Press reported yesterday that the University of North Carolina-- Chapel Hill has started a discrimination investigation against "Psalm 100," a small student Christian a cappella musical group.  The group voted earlier this week to remove from membership Will Thomason, an openly gay student. University rules allow student groups to "limit membership and participation in the organization to students who ... support the organization's goals and agree with its beliefs." However the rules preclude excluding a student from membership because of sexual orientation. Psalm 100 says it removed Thomason because of his disagreement with the group's constitution that is based on biblical standards, not because of Thomason's sexual orientation. Psalm 100's general director said its decision was made out of love for Thomason, and Thomason says he continues to love all the members of the group.