A Christian mother of five is suing Oregon state officials for allegedly denying her application to adopt children because of her religious beliefs about gender and sexuality.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on Monday on behalf of Jessica Bates, a single mother who lost her husband to a car collision six years ago. The lawsuit accuses officials with the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) of violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments by using state policy to push secular views of gender and sexuality, which ultimately bars Bible-believing Christians from adopting or fostering children in the state.
The complaint alleges that state officials told Bates during the adoptive parent training process that she must comply with a state policy mandating that she follow secular ideals in raising her adopted child:
[Bates must] respect, accept and support the race, ethnicity, cultural identities, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disabilities, spiritual beliefs, and socioeconomic status, of a child or young adult in the care or custody of the Department, and provide opportunities to enhance the positive self-concept and understanding of the child or young adult’s heritage.
Training recommendations in line with state policy require parents to use a child’s “preferred pronouns” and suggest that prospective parents should display “‘hate-free zone’ signs or symbols indicating and LGBTQ-affirming environment (e.g. pink triangle, rainbow, or ally flag),” “whether or not a youth in your care openly identifies as LGBTQ+.”
“One handout Jessica received directs caregivers to ‘[c]elebrate diversity in all forms,’ and ‘[p]rovide access to a variety of books, movies, and materials, including those that positively represent same-gender relationships,'” the complaint states. “The handout…also states that ‘[r]especting [a child’s] gender identity and expression is very important,’ and parents should avoid ‘forcing youth to attend activities (including religious activities …) that are … unsupportive of people with diverse SOGIE.”‘
Bates, who was hoping to adopt a sibling pair from the state’s foster care system, alerted ODHS that she will happily love and accept any child, but she cannot say or do something that goes against her Christian faith, according to the complaint:
Like countless people of faith, Jessica believes that our biological sex carries spiritual significance for who we are and how we should act. Jessica cannot affirm that a male is or should try to be female or vice versa. So Jessica alerted the Department that she will gladly love and accept any child for who they are, but she cannot say or do anything against her Christian faith. The state then put Jessica to a choice: abandon your religious convictions or forgo the possibility of ever adopting any child.
The ODHS ultimately declined her application, allegedly sending a denial letter that cited her belief that “God gives us our gender/sex and it’s not something we get to choose.” The denial letter also allegedly stated that Bates would not support the lifestyle and behavior of a child that may later identify as gay or transgender and cited her religious objection to facilitating sex hormone treatments for children, the complaint states.
ADF Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs, director of the ADF Center for Conscience Initiatives, described Oregon’s policy as a “litmus test”:
Oregon’s policy amounts to an ideological litmus test: people who hold secular or ‘progressive’ views on sexual orientation and gender identity are eligible to participate in child welfare programs, while people of faith with religiously informed views are disqualified because they don’t agree with the state’s orthodoxy. The government can’t exclude certain communities of faith from foster care and adoption services because the state doesn’t like their particular religious beliefs.
ADF is ultimately arguing that ODHS’s policy penalizes Bates for her religious views, compels her to speak words that violate her beliefs, and deprives her of equal protection of the law because of her faith.
ADF Legal Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse expanded on this point, saying:
Oregon’s policy makes a sweeping claim that all persons who hold certain religious beliefs—beliefs held by millions of Americans from diverse religious faiths—are categorically unfit to care for children. That’s simply not true. Oregon is putting its political agenda above the needs of countless children who would be happy to grow up in a loving, Christian home like Jessica’s. We urge the court to remind the state of its constitutional and moral obligations and reaffirm Jessica’s First Amendment right to live out her faith without being penalized by the government.
ADF is asking the court to issue a declaration that the state’s policy related to sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression violates Bates’ and others’ constitutionally protected right to free speech, free association, assembly, religious exercise, and equal protection of the law.
Attorneys are also requesting a preliminary and permanent injunction to state officials from enforcing the state’s policy against Bates or any other person through the adoption and foster process.
The case is Bates v. Pakseresht in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Pendleton Division.
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