Christian Parents Cite Vermont’s Gender Beliefs Barred Foster Care Access

Several Christian families say that Vermont has kicked them out of the state’s foster care system because of their views on gender and sexuality, according to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday.

The lawsuit, filed by Brian and Kaitlyn Wuoti and Michael and Rebecca Gantt, accused the Vermont Department for Children and Families of revoking their foster care licenses because of their Christian beliefs. The suit, first reported on by The Daily Signal, was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont Windham Division.

“Vermont’s foster-care system faces a crisis,” the lawsuit says. “But, with this emergent need, the Department recently decided to exclude all families with traditional religious beliefs about human sexuality from fostering or adopting any child. This ideological campaign puts politics above people and gender ideology over children’s best interests. It is harmful, unnecessary, and unconstitutional.”

The suit says that Vermont has violated the families’ First Amendment rights to free speech, free association, and exercise of religion, as well as their Fourteenth Amendment right to due process and equal protection. It asks that the state’s guidance on sexual and gender identity be deemed unconstitutional.

“Although the Wuotis and Gantts have adopted five children between them, the Department has determined they are unfit to foster or adopt any child solely due to their religiously inspired and widely held belief that girls cannot become boys or vice versa,” the suit says.

The department told the families that they must adhere to the state’s position on gender issues “even if the foster parents hold divergent personal opinions or beliefs,” according to the suit. The state asked them whether they would take a child to a Pride parade or use pronouns not aligning with a child’s sex. Both families said no and that their licenses had not been renewed.

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“We were surprised, because they are typically always trying to match children with families as best they can, and so we assumed maybe they would say, ‘Ok, maybe we won’t place an LGBT child with this family,’” Brian Wuoti told The Daily Signal.

According to the suit, caseworkers had previously reported good experiences working with the families. For example, one caseworker referred to the Wuotis in 2022 as “AMAZING” and said she “probably could not hand pick a more wonderful foster family,” according to the suit.

The battle in Vermont comes as the Biden administration has put forth a foster care placement rule that critics say would force foster parents to accept gender ideology and harm religious liberty. The rule has been challenged by congressional Republicans and state attorneys general.

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