Missouri State University is in court after punishing a Christian student who refused to write a letter to the state Legislature in support of gay adoption.
Emily Brooker says she refused the project because she opposes gay adoption, but her professor ignored her objections and wrote her up.
David French, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund who is representing Brooker, said her First Amendment rights were egregiously violated.
“She was brought up on charges for among other things an insufficient commitment to diversity," he told Family News in Focus. “She was then punished by the university in a Star-Chamber type proceeding, where her professors asked her if she thought they were sinners, if she thought gays and lesbians were sinners.”
John Black, a spokesman for the university, said the school is initiating an investigation.
“The university is committed to practicing principles of free inquiry and expression," he said, "and maintenance of non-coercive learning environments.”
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said this case is not the ordinary First Amendment challenge.
“Coerced speech is anathema, Hausknecht said. "It is the absolute antithesis of what the First Amendment is there to protect.”
