The counselling student who filed a discrimination lawsuit against the Augusta State University in Georgia, after it told her that to graduate she would have to attend diversity sensitivity training to alter her anti-gay beliefs, has had the lawsuit rejected.
24-year-old Christian Jennifer Keeton, who wants to be a school counsellor, claimed she was threatened with expulsion from her course if she did not change her views.
The master's degree student then claimed she would be able to give advice to queer clients despite her view that their sexuality is immoral and a lifestyle choice. Her lawyer then described the threat of suspension as 'imposing thought reform'.
She had the lawsuit filed on her behalf by attorneys of the Alliance Defence Fund (ADF), a conservative Christian nonprofit organisation.
However, U.S. District Judge Randal Hall's ruled on Friday that the requirement for students to attend diversity sensitivity training classes in this instance was 'academically legitimate', adding that the case was not about 'pitting Christianity against homosexuality.'