US court says evangelical seminary has right to expel students for same-sex marriage

The largest inter-denominational evangelical seminary in the United States will be able to uphold its religious standards for students, a judge in the State of California ruled.

The district court blocked a lawsuit from two LGBT students who were expelled from Fuller Theological Seminary (FTS) in 2018 and in 2017 for being in same-sex marriages. In so doing, they went against the seminary’s sexual standards policy. According to this policy, which all students agree to follow throughout their theological training, Fuller limits the definition of marriage to a heterosexual union and prohibits extramarital sex.

The judge said “the Court is not permitted to scrutinise the interpretation [the seminary] gives to its religious beliefs”.