Suit was filed this week in an Oregon federal district court challenging a rule of the state's Department of Human Services that persons seeking to adopt children must agree to accept and support the sexual orientation and gender identity of any child placed with them. The complaint (full text) in Bates v. Pakseresht, (D OR, filed 4/3/2023), contends that the rule violates the free expression, free exercise and equal protection rights of plaintiff whose Christian religious beliefs do not permit her to comply with this requirement. The complaint reads in part:
Under this rule, caregivers must agree to use a child’s preferred pronouns, take a child to affirming events like Pride parades, or sign the child up for dangerous pharmaceutical interventions like puberty blockers and hormone shots—no matter a child’s age, no matter whether a child actually desires these things, and no matter how deeply these requirements violate the caregiver’s religious convictions.
This puts Jessica in a bind. Like countless people of faith, Jessica believes that our biological sex carries spiritual significance for who we are and how we should act. Jessica cannot affirm that a male is or should try to be female or vice versa....
... Because she will not agree to use a hypothetical child’s preferred pronouns or facilitate a hypothetical gender transition, she cannot even adopt a newborn who has no concept of, much less a desire for, these things.
ADF issued a press release announcing the filing of the lawsuit.
