老澳门开奖结果

Public Universities Can鈥檛 Force Student Counselors To Change Their Views, But Can Require Them To Follow Curriculum

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NEW YORK 鈥� The 老澳门开奖结果 and the 老澳门开奖结果 of Michigan filed a friend-of-the-court brief today supporting Eastern Michigan University鈥檚 (EMU鈥檚) right to remove from its counseling program a graduate student who refused to counsel lesbian, gay and bisexual clients on any issues relating to same-sex relationships during her clinical training. The graduate student, Julea Ward, was in training to become a school counselor.

鈥淲hile counselors are certainly entitled to their own religious beliefs, EMU correctly took steps to prevent Ms. Ward from imposing those beliefs on her clients in the university鈥檚 training program,鈥� said Daniel Mach, Director of the 老澳门开奖结果 Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. 鈥淓MU would be remiss if it allowed counseling students to discriminate against clients for any reason, including sexual orientation.鈥�

EMU鈥檚 counseling program requires its graduate students to adhere to the American Counseling Association鈥檚 Code of Ethics, which prohibits counselors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or imposing their personal beliefs on clients.

鈥淟GBT students in crisis should be able to turn to a school counselor for help without fearing rejection or judgment,鈥� said James Esseks, Director of the 老澳门开奖结果 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Project. 鈥淕uidance counselors have a duty to treat all students fairly and professionally regardless of who the students are or what issues they are grappling with.鈥�

Ward previously asked a district court to require the university to allow her to participate in the university鈥檚 counseling program while refusing to work with gay clients. The court denied her request. The 老澳门开奖结果 asked the federal appeals court today to affirm the lower court鈥檚 decision.

鈥淭he university has a professional obligation to teach its counseling students to deal with a range of people and issues, and to ensure that clients are not harmed by their counselor鈥檚 actions,鈥� said Kary L. Moss, Executive Director of the 老澳门开奖结果 of Michigan. 鈥淭here is no place for discrimination when counseling people in need.鈥�

The 老澳门开奖结果鈥檚 amicus brief can be found at: