Even if they refuse to comply with national laws to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ children, Oregon women have the right to raise and adopt.
Jessica Bates of Malheur County, the legacy and mother of five biological children, applied to become a foster parent through the Oregon Department of Human Services in 2023, asserted that God (Christian) sent her a message to adopt more children. Bates said when she did not comply with national policies to protect children’s welfare, she asked foster parents to confirm the identity of LGBTQ+ youth.
Bates sued the state for allegedly breaching her religious beliefs and lost the initial case. She then appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled 2-1 on Thursday. The case will now be sent back to the District Court, where the Court of Appeal ordered a “strict review” of the case, a form of judicial review used to assess the constitutionality of the law, which usually ends in the court with a strike law.
Judge Richard Clifton appointed by George W. Bush was the only vote. In his objection, he argued that the case involved Bates’ treatment of children, not her religious beliefs.
“Oregon has concluded that children for whom it is responsible should be placed only with adults who promise to respect the gender identity of the child as the child gets older and develops such identity. … As a result, Oregon requires a commitment from a prospective foster parent, before that person is given custody of a child for whom Oregon is responsible, that the applicant will not act contrary to the child’s interest. Bates refused to make that commitment,” Clifton wrote.
The judge referred to Bates’ assertion, saying she would not use the name or pronoun of the child’s choice and would not allow them to wear clothes. She insisted that she would not take them to the doctor for treatment of gender dysphoria and said in an interview with KGW that if a child showed up with her with LGBTQ+, she would “remind them about Christ.”
According to a 2019 Child Rights study, more than 30% of foster young people identified as LGBTQ+ among foster care workers, 5% of transgender people, compared with 11.2% and 1.17% of young people without foster care.
“The only restrictions imposed by the state in refusing to approve applications to raise children are her treatment of the child, not what she personally believes in how she speaks to the world or how she practices her faith,” Clifton continued. “Oregon should be allowed to decide for the children to detain one of the children in the foster care applicant’s detention center to hold her accountable for the best interests of the supreme child.”
Bates is represented by the so-called coalition to defend freedom, a group known by its founder as the “Christian Legal Force” that has a long history of opposing civil rights protections against LGBTQ+ people and is known as the hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The group believes the “gay agenda” will destroy society and play a key role in several cases involving abortion visits and LGBTQ+ rights, including the Supreme Court case. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Abortion rights have been overturned nationwide and Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado and 303 Creative, Inc. v. ElenisThis verifies discrimination against LGBTQ+ customers based on religious perspectives.
“Parents are not expected to entrust their children to volunteer caregivers, they do not respect their children’s self-determined gender identity, which is important if the parents decide,” he concluded. “Oregon should not be powerless to protect children whose parents are responsible and to decide for their children who should be respected.”
This article originally appeared on Advocate: Anti-LGBTQ+ moms in Oregon win the right to adopt LGBTQ+ children
