9th Circuit sides with Oregon mother denied foster parent status over LGBTQ+ views – oregonlive.com:
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a split decision Thursday rejected an Oregon administrative rule that barred a woman from becoming a foster parent because she said wouldn’t respect the sexual orientation of an LGBTQ+ child.
Notably, the 9th US Circuit is widely regarded as one of the most liberal in the United States.
Jessica Bates, of Vale in Malheur County, had sued the state, alleging its policy violated her rights to free speech and religious freedom.
Bates, a widowed mother of five, said on her application to become a foster parent that her religious beliefs prevented her from following a rule requiring her to “respect, accept and support” the sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression of LGBTQ+ children if she were asked to foster them.
Bates, a devout Christian, would not use a child’s preferred pronouns or take a child to receive hormone shots, her lawyer said.
I don’t know Bates’ specific position on sexual orientation because the article doesn’t say. But the rule that lumps sexual orientation with gender identity and gender expression means that I’d be in the same boat as Bates. You don’t have to be “a devout Christian” to think that gender identity or expression is unsupportable. And hormone shots for kids on the basis of this? Yikes.