Accepting gender ideology required for adoption in Oregon

National Audubon Society video:

A Christian mother of 5 felt called by God to adopt a child.

The State of Oregon denied her application to do so due to her failure to adopt the new state religion: gender ideology.

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This is not a case in which the prospective parent wanted to adopt a “trans-identified” child in order to prevent them from going through with this harmful act.

There is no confusion at all, on anybody’s part. A Christian woman applied to adopt a child–a child with no parent to take care of them–and the state wanted her to promise that she would transition the child should the child hypothetically choose to do so in the future.

Jessica Bates was driving to work in southeast Oregon when she heard a Christian radio broadcast that, she said, caused a “really strong nudge in my spirit.”

It was the story of a single dad who had adopted a child. Bates, a single mother of five, felt a calling from God to do the same. It was, she said, a four-word message: Those Are My Children.

“It was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t see this coming,” she said, “but I feel like I need to do something.”

But while Bates’s Christian faith is the reason she felt called to adopt in the first place, that same faith is the reason she is not being allowed to, according to a lawsuit filed Monday against leaders of Oregon’s Department of Human Services in federal court.

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According to the lawsuit, the requirement the state imposes is very clear: you must support gender ideology in order to adopt, regardless of your own religious beliefs. This is, on its face, a religious test.

Unfortunately for Jessica, she lives in a state where officials look down on
those with traditional religious beliefs about human sexuality. The Oregon
Department of Human Services (the Department or DHS) has promulgated a rule
that persons seeking to adopt must “accept” and “support” the sexual orientation
and gender identity of any child the state could place in the applicant’s home. OAR
§ 413-200-0308(2)(k). 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

You have to take children to Pride parades in order to adopt. Think about that. Think long and hard.

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. So Jessica alerted the Department that she will gladly love and accept any
child for who they are, but she cannot say or do anything against her Christian
faith. The state then put Jessica to a choice: abandon your religious convictions or
forgo the possibility of ever adopting any child. When Jessica stood her ground, the
Department rejected her application for not meeting its “adoption home standards.

Oregon’s policy amounts to an ideological litmus test. Those with “correct”
views on sexual ethics may adopt; those with religious views may not. Indeed,
Jessica cannot access any child welfare service, whether it’s foster care for toddlers
or respite care for newborns. 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.
To make matters worse, Oregon inconsistently enforces its policy. On paper,
the state requires applicants to “accept” and “support” the “spiritual beliefs” and
“cultural identities” of any child. But in practice, the state does not require every
applicant to show they are a suitable placement for any child. A family that hunts
need not give up meat eating because some children are vegans. And Jews need not
accommodate foreign gods because some children desire a home with a Hindu
shrine. In the end, the only group excluded from the process up front are those with
religious beliefs like Jessica’s. Conservative Christians need not apply.

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Gender ideology has become the state religion of Oregon. Thou shalt bow before no God but the female penis.

Eight thousand children went through Oregon’s foster care system last year, and hundreds are looking to be adopted. None of them can be by a devout Christian who rejects gender ideology, because the state cares more about enforcing their ideological requirements than ensuring that the children have loving parents.

It really is that simple.

The state requirements are very clear:

According to the lawsuit, the state’s handout materials include examples of behavior the state expects of prospective parents, including: displaying “symbols indicating an LGBTQ-affirming environment,” including the rainbow flag and a pink triangle; displaying “pictures and posters of diverse people who are known to be LGBTQI2-S … and families with same-sex parents”; using “language that they [the child] use to express their sexual and gender identity”; and participating in “LGBTQ community activities,” including taking them to Pride parades.

This is, of course, utterly outrageous. And, unfortunately, it is also unsurprising in today’s increasingly demonic society.

The Left’s obsession with gender ideology is on-brand, but what is incomprehensible to me is the bland acceptance with which the American public reacts to the increasingly bizarre behavior and rules being imposed by the cultural Marxists.

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States are adopting “sanctuary” laws that permit kidnapping children for gender transition. Hospitals are expanding their “gender-affirming” practices. Abortion until birth is becoming the law of the land in many states. There are no limits to the depravity that is being pushed into the mainstream, and only a few brave voices are rising up in opposition.

Our president, our military, our public health establishment, and the MSM are all pushing this down our throats and yet so few people object. They either are pretending it isn’t happening or simply don’t care.

What the hell is wrong with people?

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David Strom 5:20 PM | May 01, 2024
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