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Religious beliefs and gay rights clash where ‘landscape remains uncertain’
A Supreme Court ruling sanctioning same-sex marriage in 2015 was hailed as a milestone moment that would see discrimination crumble and equality triumph for LGBT couples — and for their children.
But in the past three years, those parents and kids have faced a brewing backlash that threatens everything from health benefits to a couple’s ability to adopt.
Two states — Kansas and Oklahoma — passed legislation in recent weeks that allows state-licensed child welfare agencies to cite religious beliefs for not placing children in LGBT homes, a troubling trend for LGBT advocates.
“We have to acknowledge that marriage equality was a huge victory for security and stability” for LGBT families, said Naomi Goldberg, policy director for the Movement Advancement Project (MAP), which released a report Monday documenting ways the 2015 ruling is undercut and the consequences for kids. “But the landscape remains uncertain. Families have to think about ways they may or may not be recognized: when they travel, go to the doctor, go to a restaurant.”
Goldberg pointed to a Gallup survey released two weeks ago that shows more than two-thirds of Americans back same-sex marriage. In many families and communities, support for LGBT families flourishes, but “the gap is with legislators,” she said.
The report by MAP, a think tank that researches and analyzes laws with LGBT implications, cites a refusal to recognize LGBT families by some government officials, state legislators and even courts.
❚ Arkansas was among several states that initially refused to place two married same-sex parents on a birth certificate until ordered to do so by the Supreme Court in 2017.
❚ In Mississippi, a lower court refused to award parental rights in a divorce case to the non-biological mother of a 7-year-old boy conceived using an anonymous sperm donor. Eventually, the state Supreme Court affirmed the mother’s rights.
❚ In Texas, Houston is fighting for rights for its gay workers after the state Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s decision favoring benefits for legal spouses of city employees, which could include same-sex spouses.
Supporters of religious exemptions — laws that let people, churches, nonprofits and sometimes businesses cite religious beliefs as a reason to not comply with a law — said exemptions are an American right, dating to the Revolution. The laws “teach us how to live in a pluralistic society that recognizes we don’t all believe the same thing,” said Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst at Focus on the Family, a Christian conser- vative organization that opposes samesex marriage.
Exemption laws loom large over the daily lives of LGBT families, according to the MAP report. Twenty-one states have some type of religious exemption laws on the books.
“Religion is an important value; it’s protected under the Constitution,” Goldberg said. “But we also have an American value of not discriminating and treating people fairly.”
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia have protections from discrimination in public accommodations — meaning that in most places in the country, LGBT parents and kids can be booted from a business by someone who cites a religious belief.
Kansas and Oklahoma joined six other states that allow taxpayer-funded child service agencies to refuse to place children or provide services to families — including same-sex couples — if doing so would conflict with their religion.
Todd Vesely, 52, and Joel Busch, 54, know the sting of discrimination well. They endured nearly an eight-year odyssey to open their home to kids in need when they decided to become foster parents in Nebraska in 2007.
The couple took 10 weeks of classes, passed background checks, bought a bigger house in Lincoln. Their dream was shattered when they were denied a license because they’re gay.
“We were totally devastated,” Vesely said, when they learned of a state policy that prohibited the Department of Health and Human Services from placing foster children with same-sex couples.
“Kids need a place to go … no matter what their problems are,” Busch said. “We offered a safe place.”
The two realized they were not alone and filed suit with two other couples
“This isn’t about us as much as it is about the children.”
and the American Civil Liberties
Union.
In August 2015, a court ruled in their favor. The couple, who have fostered nine children, also have an adopted son, 13.
Kristy and Dana Dumont first talked about starting a family after the Supreme Court’s marriage ruling in 2015. Dana, 42, began sifting through emails she received as a Michigan state employee from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which launched a campaign to find homes for foster kids. The photos of the children tugged at the couple’s heartstrings.
“It is sad to know that so many children do not have stable, loving homes,” Kristy, 40, said.
The couple, who married in Vermont in 2011, began calling adoption agencies in 2016. They looked for firstrate school districts, they bought a house near Lansing with a spacious backyard where kids could frolic. But when they contacted two state-contracted child placement agencies in their county, they were rejected because they are a same-sex couple.
They are plaintiffs in a suit with the ACLU challenging the state’s policy of letting faith-based groups spurn gay couples who want to adopt or become foster parents.
The couple said unheard young voices are at the center of their battle.
“This isn’t about us as much as it is about the children,” Kristy said.