One of the things that distinguishes today’s leftist politicians from old-fashioned liberals is that they have no problem using children as political pawns. In a growing number of “blue states” and under proposed regulations from the Biden administration, the number of homes open to children in need of foster care or adoption is being limited. Why? Because people who want to look after these children are being bombarded with hypothetical questions about transgender issues and must pass the “pronoun test” — that is, agree to speak in the jargon of radical gender ideology. A horrible case exemplifying this has come to light in Oregon, but fortunately, a prospective adoptive mother is pushing back.
Jessica Bates, a widowed mother of five, feels called by her Christian faith to open her home to adoption. She has offered to adopt a young sibling pair under the age of 10 and has met all Oregon’s standards for adoptive homes — except for one hypothetical. She must agree to “affirm” the so-called gender identity, as defined by the state, of a hypothetical infant or child that may one day be placed in her care.
During state-directed training in which Jessica participated as part of the application process, she was told she must agree to use a child’s “preferred pronouns,” take a child to gay pride parades, and allow a child to undergo dangerous pharmaceutical interventions such as puberty blockers and hormone shots. When she declined to wave all these gender ideology flags, she was banned from adoption.
Represented by Alliance Defending
