A Christian couple in Washington state is taking legal action against the state after their foster care license renewal was allegedly denied due to their religious beliefs about gender and gender ideology.
Shane and Jennifer DeGross, who have been foster parents for nearly a decade and have cared for four children, filed a lawsuit asserting that the state revoked their foster care license because of their religious convictions regarding human sexuality.
According to the lawsuit, the state “revoked their foster-care license because of their religious beliefs about human sexuality — prioritizing an ideological agenda over children’s best interests by excluding capable parents who can care for children in need.”
The lawsuit contends that this action by the state constitutes discrimination and violates the Constitutional rights of Shane and Jennifer.
The Department of Children, Youth, and Families in Washington recently implemented new guidelines mandating that foster parents adhere to the preferred pronouns of foster children. However, the DeGrosses informed the foster agency they work with that they could not comply with this policy due to their belief that they should not misrepresent foster children’s identities or encourage them to reject their biological sex.
Subsequently, Washington officials denied the couple’s license renewals. Despite multiple attempts to appeal this decision, the licensing agency upheld the denial.
Alliance Defending Freedom, the legal group representing the DeGrosses, condemned the state’s actions.
“Washington is putting families like the DeGrosses to an impossible choice: speak against your faith and lie or give up the opportunity to care for hurting children. That is illegal and wrong,” said ADF legal counsel.
According to the Daily Wire, Washington’s state foster care system has been experiencing a shortage of caregivers since 2022, as the state has expressed its desire for foster parents who are “racially and culturally diverse” and “affirming of LGBTQIA+ youth.”
California and Oregon have similar adoption and foster care policies, resulting in one Christian mother suing the state for allegedly discriminating against her adoption application based on her religion.
