A Christian woman in Oregon blocked from adopting foster children because she wouldn’t comply with a state policy requiring support of a child’s gender identity earned a victory in federal court Thursday.
A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the Oregon Department of Human Services’ policy that prospective parents must “respect, accept and support” the sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression of children in its care violated Jessica Bates’ First Amendment protections of speech and religion.
Bates, a widowed mother of five biological children living in Vale in eastern Oregon, applied in 2022 to become certified to adopt two siblings under age 9 from foster care. But the state Department of Human Services denied her application, according to court records, because Bates would not agree to using a child’s preferred pronouns, allowing a child to dress and express themselves in accordance with their gender identity, or taking the child to events such as Pride parades.
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