Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit this week against Vermont for violating the First Amendment by refusing foster care licenses to parents who disagree with the state’s views on affirming gender fluidity and ideology. Two families’ foster care licenses were revoked for their refusal to act contrary to their religious beliefs on human sexuality.
Vermont’s decision to deny these licenses is attached to a new policy that requires parents to support an adopted child for their potential gender fluidity “even if it feels uncomfortable.” Despite the need for more foster care homes, Vermont did not allow well-suited families to adopt kids due to their religious convictions. (READ MORE: Religious Instruction During School Day Is Protected for Oklahoma Students)
Pastor Brian Wuoti and his wife Katy, one of the families represented in this lawsuit, became foster care parents to two brothers in 2014, while Pastor Bryan Gantt and his wife, Rebecca, adopted three children in 2016. According to Alliance Defending Freedom’s complaint, Wouti and Gantt are well-known for their “ability to care for hurting children,” yet Vermont denied them and revoked their licenses.
Both families have stated their commitment to love and accept their adopted child — even if he or she later identified as LGBTQ+ — but would not compromise their beliefs. In trying to renew their licenses in 2022, the Woutis got their licenses taken away once they mentioned they were Christian and would not “say or do anything that went against faith-informed views about human sexuality.” (READ MORE: The Spectator P.M. Podcast Ep. 49: UCLA Faculty Members Admit Medical School’s Preference for Black, Hispanic Students)
In a similar situation, the Gantts were about to accept a baby born to a homeless woman who was addicted to drugs. The Gantts received an email from the Vermont Department for Children and Families, which explained that families need to accept a child’s gender fluidity, “even if the foster parents hold divergent personal opinions or beliefs.” After Gantt responded to the department that they would not forsake their belief that “people should value their God-given bodies,” the department did not let Gantt take the baby and revoked their license.
The Vermont regulation for foster care families to comply with gender ideology is in conjunction with Policy 76, which instructs department staff on how to treat and care for LGBTQ+ individuals. The Vermont department proposed new regulations with rules that emphasize the requirement for foster parents to support children in exploring, understanding, and accepting their gender identity.
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