EXCLUSIVE: Vermont Blocks Christian Parents From Fostering Over Gender Ideology 

A few years back, Alliance Defending Freedom cheered when the Trump administration allowed South Carolina's largest child-welfare organization to reject Jewish, Catholic, and gay couples as prospective foster and adoptive parents because "religious liberty." This was despicable at the time. Why? ⬇️ "It is beyond dispute that any public entity, state or federal, has a compelling interest in assuring that public dollars, drawn from the tax contributions of all citizens, do not serve to finance the evil of private prejudice." - Justice O'Connor The notion that an organization that operates using taxpayer dollars can refuse service to the people who keep their lights on is nauseating. Now ADF has completely flip-flopped. How dare anyone treat ADF's clients the same way ADF demands other couples be treated?! This will not do!! South Carolina was all wrong because prospective parents were excluded by a blanket ban with no regard for a child's best interest. Vermont is not refusing to license Christians, as ADF framed it. Vermont stopped licensing would-be foster and adoptive parents who refuse to act in a child's best interest. LGBT kids are over-represented among the number of children and adolescents in state care. Too many unthinking parents cherish their primitive religious beliefs more than their own flesh and blood and cruelly force their child into homelessness. ADF's talking point has been "Christian" child-welfare organizations operating with taxpayer dollars have the "religious liberty" to exclude gays (and others) and doing so will allow them to place more children in homes. This makes no sense, but what they never clarified was whether these organizations could reject not only prospective parents but also gay and trans kids. Are LGBT state wards excluded and therefore not placed into a foster or adoptive home? Or are LGBT state wards included but then placed with foster parents who force the child into dehumanizing gay-conversion "therapy" and refuse to recognize some people are gay -- and it's okay. This is NOT in a child's best interest. If a Muslim teenager who enjoys attending the local mosque weekly is placed with evangelical foster parents, they should respect who he is and ensure his worship continues. #ChildsBestInterest Christian couples who believe Islam is a lie and the Muslim foster child needs to attend their own Baptist church to be saved SHOULD NOT BE prospective foster or adoptive parents. The same reasoning is true for prospective foster or adoptive parents who refuse to recognize and respect a state ward's sexual orientation and gender identity.

Disgusting shift in the foster system. Stability has been proven to be the only lifeline for all children and the state is purposefully undermining their future. 😡

God Bless the Christian parents They are the backbone of families 🏡

"We don't care about your christian values and we're not giving you a child to foster to save their future." Seems pretty stupid to me.

This is horrible! Vermont has just gone crazy!

Lawsuit

Glad your putting your feet down

Should have lied on the form and said you support it to rescue the kids from those demons here once they’re in your possession you could teach them about Christ

That's truly frightening. I am willing to foster as well, we have a spare room, stable jobs, enough money but we wouldn't be able to foster because we also would never transition a child, would not take them to pride nor call them by different pronouns. Sad :(

WOW!!!! Just WOW!!! America has truly fallen!! SMH

As a foster mom for 12+ years to mostly 16 years and older teens my husband and I have had all great kids. Including bisexual, alcoholics, drug addicts, white witches, sports extremes, vegans, molested, abused, abandoned, confused..... we ( my husband and I and our 3 kids have always loved them as christ would where thay are at. All are still part of our life today. Evon with knowing our strong love for christ. And knowing our love for them. Our kids names , Sam + 4 grandkids, Nichole + 1 grandchild,Jen,Brandie, mileena, Nyha, Stacie + 1 grandchild ,Andrew, Heidi, shawn, Bridge+ 5 Jodi+3, Hadarah. Ask them what they would say if today they would not be allowed to live with us and become part of our family.

As a former foster child from the state of California, the most important thing for the Dept. of Children & Families in Vermont is that the children in the foster care system have safe, caring and stress free homes as much as possible where they can feel safe and be in a calming environment where there is no pressure of any kind to follow any religious faith practices of any kind for that is very realistically the last thing on a lot of minds of foster kids. For the priorities of the majority of foster kids is making sure that they can still go to school, have more than just one meal a day, a stable roof over their heads and have clean clothes on their backs. And, considering that the high majority of the kids in the foster care system come from very violent and troubling backgrounds no matter how they identify themselves, being able to make it through the day without worrying where they will sleep at night is more important than what faith their foster parents are. And, if for these two foster families that brought the lawsuit deeply believe that their faith is that important to them to be out in the open about, then they should look into faith based foster care agencies instead of going through the Dept. of Children & Families in Vermont.

Foster parents tend more to be strongly Christian parents.

Are they saying they will allow Homosexuals or LGBT alternative lifestyle individuals to foster parent But not Christians .

Contact the ACLJ

The one thing that bugs me about this lawsuit more than anything is that the more that I hear this story, the more that it becomes clear that this fight is about these foster parents and what they want instead of making sure that a foster child in need has clean clothes on their back, is able to go to school, has a safe place to sleep and has 3 square meals a day no matter how they identify themselves. Yes, the faith of these foster parents in this lawsuit does matter. However, they cannot force their faith on any foster child that they take into their homes either.

Actually INSANE

Illinois has put these rules in place also

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

What about Muslim families? Bet THAT would be OK. Or a gay couple? Unbelievable how destructive this is.

I think that the system pushes the pendulum to its extreme. As a Christian I have no choice but to be christ-like and in that... I must remember that Jesus walked into the lives of people who were murderers and adulterers and prostitutes and you name it... He exampled to them and they chose to follow him. I think as Christians we must remember, but by the grace of God am I. I'm not saying we should agree to pronouns or that we should agree to taking someone to a gay pride festival... As that would mean that we are feeding those things to our spirit and our soul. However at the same time we must be able to present and example, we must reach out a hand of understanding, and give a strong foundation for ALL children. But in all honesty I am not sure how to get the pendulum back to Center ground where the needs of the children are met with housing, clothing, food, and education first and foremost. What they identify as or what kind of parades or festivals and they want to attend can be done after they turn 18 and have a better sense of self after having had a secure foundation on which to build a life. Abundant blessings and I pray that a happy medium can be found.

Who the hell would want to be involved in this states quagmire

Um it's an entire g0v operation unfortunately so therefore you either abide by their rules and agendas or get out of the business altogether that's how it works 🙄 😖

THIS IS SICK and I fear it’s a sign of things to come.

One more thing here... There are serious doubts that these two foster families in Vermont will win this lawsuit, very serious doubts. It would be easier for Josh Duggar to 100% come clean with all that he has done wrong in his life than it would be for these two foster families to win this lawsuit against the Vermont Dept. for Children & Families.

As a former foster youth who aged out of the foster care system, I entirely support banning foster parents who are unable to not force their religion onto children living in their home. This is more than just about gender identity. I suffered far more abuse in Christian foster homes than I did in the home I was removed from and this is a very common issue with foster youth. I think it's important for foster parents to think of themselves like host parents for foreign exchange students and be very open to new points of views, cultures and ideas. If you aren't open to that, don't foster. It just leads to more and more disruptions and kids being moved to more homes that leads to more trauma. I was moved from one extremely religious foster home to another home where the dad was a pastor and then to another religious home and then finally a group home. I changed high schools four times - all because religious foster parents didn't want want to deal with a teen who refused to go to church or listen to their stupid bible lectures about how inferior women are to men and how women have to obey men. I can't imagine how badly someone who was nonbinary or trans would feel in a foster home like that considering how they treated me being a typical teenage girl. I'd rather have put in jail or a shelter or an office building than stay one more day in those religious foster homes.

Who needs logic when you’ve got the bibble. Don’t mask your bigotry with your “faith.”