The room was tense with conflicting opinions as the United Student Government (USG) hashed out a proposal to deal with the alleged discrimination of a lesbian student and her partner by The Body Christian Fellowship.After two hours of debating and amending multiple proposals, USG voted to accept the alleged victim’s story as fact and agreed that The Body was in violation of the discrimination policies of USG and the university.Based on these facts, the legislative body voted on a proposal that required the religious club to follow the changes USG proposed to their constitution and practices, or face being disbanded as a student organization.“Today, I am proud to stand with an organization which has demonstrated progressive leadership in the truest and most positive sense: in taking decisive action against discrimination, the legislative body of our United Student Government has not only reinforced our own policies and those of the university, but further, has taken a stand in supporting a broader platform of equality,” USG President Ian Sulkowski wrote in an email statement.This decision comes after almost three weeks of discussion and multiple meetings with the couple involved and The Body, as well as the Coalition Christian Outreach (CCO), an outside ministry program that is deeply involved with the club.According to Sulkowski, the university legally considers leadership and membership to be the same under the rules of nondiscrimination.This is the story as gathered by USG through these meetings.The student joined The Body over a year and a half ago, came out as an openly gay individual and the club accepted her.Recently, the student brought her partner with her to a square dancing night hosted by The Body. According to the statement she made to USG, it was after that, that the The Body adviser to the club began to question her about her relationship with her partner, particularly whether or not they were sexually active.According to the CCO ministers to the school, who operate as an outside organization not employed by the university, a leader in the club cannot be sexually active.The student promised to follow the CCO rules and be celibate in order to maintain a leadership position. That is when the student allegedly received what she considered to be an ultimatum: either break up with her girlfriend and continue to be a leader or step down.“[The Body adviser] makes me feel like an outsider in a place that I chose because I feel like I’m accepted. I felt like she was going on her own personal views, rather than the views of The Body,” the student’s partner said during a closed-doors USG meeting.When questioned, the student said the only person that asked her to step down was one specific Body adviser.While the The Body members said this stipulation would be applied to any person in a relationship, including a heterosexual one, the student did not feel the same.“I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t do both. If it was a heterosexual relationship, I don’t feel like this would be occurring,” she said.Senator Anthony D’Alfonso, who sat in on meetings with both the student and The Body, pointed out a discrepancy between what The Body said and its actions. If the student was asked to step down based only on being sexually active, as The Body claimed in its meetings, it would not make sense that she would be asked to step down after promising to be celibate.“To me, that is discrimination based on the fact that she is a homosexual. If all I think is true and a few more facts that I’m neglecting to report because they aren’t coming to mind at the moment, this would be against the university discrimination policy—you can find it in your student handbook—and against the USG discrimination policy,” D’Alfonso said. In a statement read at the legislative body meeting by The Body member Audrey Eisentrout, the club is accepting of all races, genders and sexual orientations.While many of the people that attend the group are not always in alignment with the club’s goals, according to the statement, leadership is more rigidly defined.“All students are invited to participate in The Body, but our leadership team strives to be examples of faithful Christian living. The standards for this Christian leadership were established 2,000 years ago. Christians cannot dismiss them or substitute popular opinion without ceasing to be Christian,” Eisentrout read to the Legislative Body. The student leadership team of the club maintained that the student and her adviser came to a mutual agreement that she should step down from her leadership position.“On this basis, we believe the allegation is untrue. It would be easier to stand before you today and acquiesce to a different understanding of the situation. However, we answer to a higher power and our reputation rests with God,” Eisentrout read from the prepared statement.The statement concluded with a request for USG to consider that The Body is important to the fabric of Point Park’s diversity.“All we are asking is that you keep Point Park University a place where mutual respect and diversity of opinion are valued and not disregarded,” Eisentrout said, concluding her reading.After entertaining facts by both parties and a 20-minute recess for consideration of proposals, the Legislative Body put the proposals to a vote.USG decided the CCO may continue to advise the club but not govern it. The club will not follow CCO guidelines, but rather the guidelines set forth by the university, USG and The Body’s own revised constitution.If the club and its advisers do not sign an agreement set forth by USG and the university agreeing to revise the club’s constitution and agreeing that the CCO will no longer be part of governing the club’s leadership team by Nov. 5, the club will automatically be disbanded.“I commend [the Legislative Body] for their diligence in this process and I fully support their ultimate handling of the situation, with the understanding that it reflects the culture and views of our student body,” Sulkowski wrote.