Missouri university sued for expelling Christian student over same-sex couple counseling issue

A counselling student is taking legal action against a university in Missouri for expelling him due to his Christian beliefs.

Andrew Cash, a student who was close to completing the Masters of Counseling program at the Missouri State University, was dismissed from the school after saying that he would refer a same-sex couple to another counselor because of his Christian convictions. His expression of his religious inclination has had a negative reaction from his adviser and from the school.

"Traditionally, universities have been places for free exchange of ideas and values, both religious and secular," said Thomas Olp, executive director at Thomas More Society, as quoted by the Catholic News Agency. "Unfortunately, Missouri State University departed from its mission by denying educational opportunity to Mr. Cash simply because he expressed, in an academic setting, sincerely-held religious beliefs which his advisor deemed hostile to her own and therefore unacceptable."

Thomas More Society is a national public interest law firm that has filed a lawsuit against MSU in behalf of Cash. The complaint claims that Cash was "penalized for expressing his religious views," and that he was treated differently from his peers "because he is a Christian and because of his Christian beliefs." They want Cash to be reinstated into the program and they are also seeking punitive damages because the former student has suffered both economic injury as well as "irreparable harm."

In 2011, Cash interned at the Springfield Marriage and Family Institute, a university-approved counseling agency, to fulfill the program's requirements. With his instructor's approval, Cash asked his internship supervisor -- the chief counselor at SMFI -- to speak in his class regarding Christian counseling. The discussion included treatment of homosexual clients, and the chief counselor said that, for relationship counseling, they would rather refer gay couples to other counselors. When a student complained to the faculty adviser, Cash was asked about his views, and he admitted that he would refer gay couples to other counselors since he could not counsel them himself.

The faculty adviser said that this stance is discrimination against members of the LGBT community, and it goes against the ethics code of the American Counseling Association. The SMFI was then deemed as not fit for internship and Cash's internship hours was expunged from his records. He was then required to take remedial classes and was subsequently expelled from the masters program in 2014.

According to CNA, a similar case happened in 2009. The Eastern Michigan University was sued for expelling a student who did not want to counsel a same-sex couple because of her faith. The university took out the expulsion from her record and paid a settlement following the lawsuit.