Families sue Vermont for denying foster care licenses over opposition to trans ideology
Two Christian couples are suing Vermont over state officials reportedly refusing to renew their foster care licenses because they oppose transgender ideology on religious grounds.
The Wuotis and the Gantts, both of Windham County, filed a complaint against state officials on Tuesday in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, Windham Division.
The named defendants include Christopher Winters, commissioner of the Vermont Department for Children and Families; Aryka Radke, deputy commissioner of the Family Services Division; and Stacey Edmunds, director of Residential Licensing & Special Investigations.
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Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse, who is helping to represent the families, told The Christian Post that he believes “Vermont's policy violates constitutional rights.”
“The Supreme Court has said for decades that states can't force citizens to say something that they don't believe as a condition of receiving a license or any kind of government benefit,” he said.
“And here, Vermont is telling the parents that they have to violate their sincerely-held religious beliefs just to serve alongside others and to help vulnerable children.”
Widmalm-Delphonse also told CP that he believes “the policy hurts the children in need the most,” adding that “Vermont has a duty to help children find a loving home, but instead its taking away loving families and reducing the eligible pool of families who can care for these children who may have nowhere else to go."
A VDCF spokesperson forwarded CP a statement from Radke, in which she said the department “does not comment on the specifics of pending lawsuits.”
“That said, generally speaking, DCF 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. This includes their sexual orientation and gender identity,” stated Radke.
“It bears mentioning that this suit was filed at the start of pride month — a time when we reflect on the achievements and continued struggles of the LGBTQI+ movement. The department stands in partnership with the community, and continually works to be a better partner, ally, and support system — rather than a barrier to the children and youth who identify as part of this community.”
Radke added that she believes the requirement of foster parents to be affirming of LGBT identity “can improve outcomes for this group of kids, to be on par with their heterosexual and cis-gendered peers.”
“It is a human right for all to be valued and supported, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” she continued. “The Family Services Division is here to serve all, and upholds that expectation for both its staff, as well as the foster parents who agree to take on the care of the youth in our custody.”
Radke further claimed, “Providing safe, affirming, accepting and welcoming homes benefits all youth and it has the power to save lives. This is true year-round, and bears underscoring for these youth especially during pride.”
Regarding the concern over providing safe homes for LGBT youth, Widmalm-Delphonse told CP that “if anything,” it is “the state's policies” that “are actually harmful.”
“I would point people to the Cass review that came out of England showing that pharmacological and surgical intervention likely caused more harm than any good and that the evidence is incredibly weak in this area,” he responded.
“Children just need a loving place, someone to care for them while they work out these types of issues. They don't need the state pushing its gender ideology on them.”
In 2021, the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia that a local Catholic charity could not be prohibited from participating in the city’s foster program because the organization refused to place children with same-sex couples.
Chief Justice John Roberts delivered the court opinion, writing that “the city has burdened the religious exercise of [Catholic Social Services] through policies that do not meet the requirement of being neutral and generally applicable.”
“Government fails to act neutrally when it proceeds in a manner intolerant of religious beliefs or restricts practices because of their religious nature,” wrote Roberts.
“The refusal of Philadelphia to contract with CSS for the provision of foster care services unless it agrees to certify same-sex couples as foster parents cannot survive strict scrutiny, and violates the First Amendment.”
