According to the department’s policies, parents are encouraged to “support children’s identities even if it feels uncomfortable” and “bring young people to LGBTQ organizations and events in the community.” It instructs foster parents to use “appropriate pronouns” — which would be inconsistent with the child’s biological sex if the child identifies as transgender — and “support young people’s gender expression.”
The foster parents who filed the suit are Protestant Christians: Brian Wuoti, a pastor, and his wife, Katy; Bryan Gantt, who is also a pastor, and his wife, Rebecca. Both couples argue in the lawsuit that complying with this policy would violate their religious beliefs and their rights to free speech.
“The Wuoti and Gantt families have adopted five beautiful children between them, including children with special needs,” Widmalm-Delphonse said. “Now Vermont says they’re unfit to parent any child because of their traditional religious beliefs about human sexuality. Vermont seems to care little about the needs of vulnerable children, much less the constitutional rights of its citizens. That’s why we’re suing them in federal court.”
The lawsuit asks the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, Windham Division to find that the policy and its enforcement against these two sets of foster parents violates the constitutionally protected rights to free speech, free association, religious exercise, due process, and equal protection under the law.
Further, the lawsuit asks the court to order that the department halt its enforcement of this policy, which denies or revokes licenses based on a person’s beliefs about sexuality and gender.
Aryka Radke, deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department for Children and Families, Family Services Division, said in a statement provided to CNA that the department “takes the care and support of youth in our custody seriously and we work to ensure that youth in foster care are placed in homes that support all aspects of what makes them who they are,” which includes “their sexual orientation and gender identity.”
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