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British actress sues after being sacked for quoting from the Bible

The 25-year-old British actress was given the lead role in a stage version of The Color Purple in March.

But just a day after she was cast in the production, an old Facebook post in which she quoted the Bible to express her Christian beliefs led to her being sacked as a 'homophobe' and dropped by her agent.

Six months on and unable to get work, the 25-year-old is suing, saying she is a victim of religious discrimination.

Last night, the actress told The Mail on Sunday she is no longer even invited to auditions.

"I'm heartbroken," she said. "If I'm unable to get back to the stage, then I feel there is no point. It's the only thing I have ever wanted since I was a young girl."

After training at the prestigious Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, the London-born actress quickly found parts in the West End and at the National Theatre.

In March this year, she auditioned for a production of the musical to be staged in Birmingham and Leicester and was ecstatic to be given the part of Celie, the central character in Alice Walker's novel who was played by Whoopi Goldberg in the 1985 film.

But the next day she received a tweet with a screenshot of her Facebook post from September 2014. 

In a discussion about homosexuality, she had written: "It is clearly evident in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 what the Bible says on this matter. I do not believe you can be born gay and I do not believe homosexuality is right..."

The sender was Aaron Lee Lambert, who stars in the West End production of Hamilton. 

He particularly objected to her views because the character of Celie is seen by some readers as being gay.

Omooba told The Mail on Sunday: "I really wanted the role but what they wanted me to do was completely against my faith. I did not want to lie just to keep a job."

Christian Concern are representing and supporting the actress in her legal battle against Leicester Curve Theatre and her agency, Global Artists, for breach of contract and anti-Christian discrimination.

Andrea Williams, Chief Executive of the Christian Concern, said: "What happened to Seyi Omooba was cruel and has damaged the career of a highly talented young artist for a Facebook post she had made four years ago.
"Here you have a young Christian woman, with what critics have described as having a 'ferocious' talent, being sacked and blacklisted for expressing what the Bible says about homosexual practice, the need for forgiveness and God's love for all humanity.

"This is another in a string of cases involving Christians being hounded out of their careers because they love Jesus. This cannot go unchallenged and we are determined to fight for justice in this case."

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