(LifeSiteNews) — The state of Vermont has backed off its effort to force Christian foster families to affirm LGBT ideology, thanks to the efforts of the religious liberty attorneys at Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
As covered by LifeSiteNews in 2024, Brian and Kaitlyn Wuoti and Michael and Rebecca Gantt began fostering in 2014 and 2016, respectively, with the Wuotis adopting two brothers and the Gantts taking in three children. Seeking to renew their license in 2022, the Wuotis were initially hailed by a caseworker who said she “probably could not hand pick a more wonderful foster family,” but mention of their Christian faith and “that they could not say or do anything that went against faith-informed views about human sexuality” prompted their license to be revoked.
The Gantts, meanwhile, were asked to take in a baby who was about to be born to a homeless drug addict, but before the emergency placement was settled they received a notice that foster parents had to adhere to the state’s ideas on gender ideology “even if the foster parents hold divergent personal opinions or beliefs.” Responding that they would “unconditionally love and support any children placed with them, but they would not forsake their religious beliefs that people should value their God-given bodies,” the Gantts were met with rejection of the emergency placement and revocation of their license.
Their lawsuit accused the Vermont Department for Children & Families (DCF) of forcing an “ideological position at the expense of children,” despite state officials’ own acknowledgment of a “desperate need for emergency foster homes.” According to state licensing rules, “all foster parents are prohibited from engaging in any form” of so-called “discrimination” against foster children based on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” They must specifically “support children in wearing” any clothing affirming a presumed racial, cultural, tribal, or religious identity or “gender identity.”
This week, ADF announced that DCF has finalized a new policy as part of an agreement to dismiss the case. The new policy, issued February 18, states that “[a]pplicants’ sincerely held personal, cultural, religious, moral, or philosophical beliefs shall not be considered in the licensing process,” nor will the state require “endorsement or affirmation of specific identities” or the “use of particular vocabulary, prescribed language, or preferred pronouns related to gender identity, sexual orientation, or identity expression.”
Additionally, the department agreed to rescind the revocation of the plaintiffs’ license, freeing them to reapply under the new standards.
“This is an incredible victory for children in Vermont’s foster-care system,” said ADF Senior Counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse. “No parent should be forced to lie to a vulnerable child about who they are, much less promote irreversible and life-altering procedures that don’t have any proven health benefits. And, unfortunately, other loving families have been unable to open their homes to children in need just because of their Christian worldview. We commend Vermont for respecting the religious diversity of foster parents and ending its exclusionary policy that deprived children of opportunities to find loving homes.”
A significant body of evidence finds that “affirming” gender confusion carries serious harms, especially when done with impressionable children who lack the mental development, emotional maturity, and life experience to consider the long-term ramifications of the decisions being pushed on them. Studies find that more than 80 percent of children suffering gender dysphoria outgrow it on their own by late adolescence, whereas reinforcing dysphoria fails to resolve and even exacerbates mental strife by perpetuating delusion and neglecting the actual root causes.
Yet in states such as Vermont, Washington, Massachusetts, and Arizona, officials have enacted rules that threaten to put religious agencies out of business if they do not fully embrace pro-LGBT dictates despite not only the potential harm to children but shortages in available foster homes.
In November, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at “modernizing” the child welfare system in the United States, and direct the federal government to “take appropriate action to address State and local policies and practices that inappropriately prohibit participation in federally-funded child-welfare programs by qualified individuals or organizations based upon their sincerely-held religious beliefs or moral convictions.”