Student claims
university kicked him out for being gay

A Connecticut man is suing the University of Bridgeport, claiming the school barred him from campus and ordered him to undergo psychiatric care because of his homosexuality, reports the Connecticut Post. Paul Lewis, 55, alleges that university officials held a disciplinary hearing last spring and charged him with making other students uncomfortable because he is gay.

According to Lewis's lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Milford superior court, school officials also ordered Lewis, who was studying for a doctorate in chiropractic medicine, to reapply to the school if he wanted to continue taking classes. "The University of Bridgeport had the perception that Paul had psychiatric issues and discriminated against him based on that perceived disability," Lewis's attorney, John Williams of New Haven, told the Post. "They perceived him as being gay and discriminated against him on that basis."

Lewis, who acknowledges being gay, said Wednesday that he believes the discrimination against him stems in part from the university's alleged ties to the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. "Reverend Moon still has a major influence on the University of Bridgeport, and his understanding of human sexuality is extremely limited," Lewis said. "There is discrimination against gay people throughout the campus."

John Daley, a spokesman for the university, told the Post that the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities dismissed a complaint on the matter filed by Lewis. He declined further comment. "It is our policy that we don't speak about pending litigation," he said. "We will make our case in court, not in the newspaper." (Advocate.com)