Vermont Drops Requirement To Affirm Gender Identity For Foster License Approval

By Greg Piper | Just the News

Solidly Democratic states are coming to the realization that excluding foster-care applicants based on their refusal to treat children as the opposite sex may not be a wise choice.  

Vermont gave up its policy of scrutinizing would-be and current foster parents’ religious beliefs for inconsistency with gender ideology to settle two First Amendment lawsuits before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could rule, issuing sweeping new guidance last week that protects applicants from violating their conscience to foster children.

It’s a big win for two public interest law firms representing three sets of parents, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and the Center for American Liberty (CAL), founded by Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon.

Last summer, a split 9th Circuit panel blocked Oregon’s denial of widow Jessica Bates’s application to adopt the five siblings she’s already fostering based on her refusal to honor the asserted gender identity of “hypothetical adopted children” in speech or actions, including facilitation of medicalized transitions.

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