Openly Homophobic Augusta State Student Sues School

Georgia Augusta State student Jennifer Keeton filed a civil complaint against her school after they threatened her with dismissal from the counseling education masters program because she had said she could not condone actions of gay and lesbian students and refused to attend a diversity training. She refused, writing in an e-mail [PDF]to Augusta State officials, "[Y]ou are requiring me to alter my objective beliefs and also to commit now that if I ever may have a client who wants me to affirm their decision to have an abortion or engage in gay, lesbian, or transgender behavior, I will do that. I can't alter my biblical beliefs, and I will not affirm the morality of those behaviors in a counseling situation."

Keaton's civil complaint is based upon her constitutional rights of speech, belief and religious exercise, “not because of poor academic showing or demonstrated deficiencies in clinical performance, but because she holds to Christian ethical convictions.”

Here is the problem: if Keeton wants to be a counselor, she will eventually have to abide by American Psychological Association standards, which state, “Psychologists understand that homosexuality and bisexuality are not indicative of mental illness,” and, “Psychologists strive to understand how inaccurate or prejudicial views of homosexuality or bisexuality may affect the client’s presentation in treatment and the therapeutic process.”

There are two tracts in the counselor education program at Augusta State: community counseling or school counseling. Both tracks have courses in diversity training, which the school recommended she take and additional writing assignments on the topic.

According to APA standards, these are reasonable things to request and inevitably, with a Master's degree in either school or community counseling, she would have to deal with LGBTQ clients. It’s jarring to think a student from a counseling program from a state school could go out into the world with an accreditations and deal with LGBTQ clients, including young people who are dealing with their sexuality. Keeton certainly has the right to express her attitudes and beliefs, but in the same way that teachers have to treat all students fairly and journalists have to treat subjects objectively, therapists must bring objectivity to practice. If Keeton says she will not be able to do so, she does not deserve to fulfill a role as a counselor.

Lisa Gillespie is a former staff writer for Campus Progress as well as the Managing Editor & New Media Director at Street Sense. She graduated from the University of North Carolina–Asheville.