Gay Couples File Lawsuit Against Michigan Over Limits to Adopt Children

By: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

Last Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sued the state of Michigan over a law which allows adoption agencies to deny adoptions to gay couples on religious grounds, challenging the GOP legislative efforts that are gaining momentum in several US states.

The ACLU lawsuit states that it seeks to limit which adoption agencies can claim objections over their personal religious beliefs by asking a Detroit federal court to rule that any state agency accepting taxpayer money must accommodate all applicants without “religious litmus tests.”

“Decisions about adoption and foster family placements should be made based on the needs of the child, not the religious beliefs of the agency,” said ACLU attorney Jay Kaplan. “More families are needed, not fewer, for the 13,000 children in Michigan’s child welfare system.” said Kaplan.

Since the U.S. Supreme court made same-sex marriage the law of the land, the number of religious exemption laws have nearly doubled in 2017 alone. Not to mention the fact that we now have seven new states that have passed laws that allow religious-based discrimination against same-sex couples who want to either adopt a child or become a foster parent.

“Government services must not be provided based on religious standards and taxpayer money must not be used to fund agencies that discriminate based on religion or sexual orientation,” said ACLU attorney Leslie Cooper.

According to the ACLU, the lawsuit filed in Detroit Federal court is being brought on behalf of two gay couples and an adopted teenager. One of the couples who went public, Kristy and Dana Dumont, told the press that they were turned down by two child placement agencies contracted by the state of Michigan.

“We are ready to open our home and our hearts to a child, but were rejected because we’re a same-sex couple,” saod Kristy Dumont.

Michigan’s anti-lgbt law was passed by the Republican-led legislature in 2015 and signed by the state’s Republican governor Rick Snyder. The excuse the governor’s office used in why he signed such an outrageous piece of legislation is that his office had received letters from religious-based adoption groups who claimed that having to serve gay married couples might force them out of adoption work over their religious convictions.

In fact the governor’s office proped up Bethany Christian Services who had wrote one of these letters where it said, “Requiring religious groups to accept gay parents requires agencies to abandon their faith or abandon the children they serve. That is an untenable choice, one that inevitably results in fewer resources available to recruit families and place children in loving homes.”

Review the Lawsuit filed by the ACLU against the state of Michigan

We will continue to follow this case and bring you any new updates as they happen.

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