Massachusetts Parents Lose Foster License After Refusing To Sign Gender Affirming Policy For Kids
A devout Christian couple has been stripped of their foster license after refusing to sign a gender-affirming policy they say conflicts with their faith.
Lydia and Heath Marvin, from Woburn,
Massachusetts, have looked after eight children under the age of four since 2020, including many infants and toddlers with serious medical needs.
But the couple say social workers pulled their license because they refused to sign a clause requiring foster parents to 'support, respect, and affirm a foster child's sexual orientation,
gender identity, and gender expression.'
It put them in a position where they were essentially forced them to choose between their religion and the vulnerable children they had dedicated their lives to helping.
'We were told you must sign the form as is or you will be delicensed,' Lydia told
WBZ. 'We will absolutely love and support and care for any child in our home, but we simply can't agree to go against our Christian faith in this area.
'Our Christian faith, it really drives us toward that,' husband Heath explained. '[The Book of James] says that true, undefiled religion is to care for the fatherless.'
The Marvins say they were blindsided by the decision. Their last foster child, a baby with complex medical needs, lived with them for 15 months.
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The couple say the gender-affirming policy they refused to sign conflicts with their faith, leading to being put in the position of choosing between their religion and vulnerable children
The couple had reconfigured their home to welcome foster children, setting up cribs, play areas, and baby monitors. One infant they cared for required medical attention every few hours.
But officials from Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) informed the couple in April that their refusal to sign the new policy meant their license would not be renewed. This came despite the agency's own social worker describing them as 'uniquely dedicated' foster parents who had successfully cared for children most others would not take in.
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Polly Crozier, director of family advocacy at GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, says 'foster parents are not parents - they're just a stopgap'
A Massachusetts couple who fostered eight children lost their license after refusing to sign a gender-affirming policy that conflicted with their Christian faith.
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