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FRANKFORT, KY. – The contract dispute between Sunrise Children’s Services, a Kentucky Baptist Convention affiliated adoption agency, and the administration of Democratic Governor Andy Beshear over Sunrise’s refusal to sign a clause intended to prevent discrimination against LGBTQ couples looking to adopt or foster children in the state, has advocates, state lawmakers, and others fully engaged in the dispute.
The Lexington Courier-Journal first reported that the dispute is over a single sentence in the contract which state lawmakers are calling on the Governor to respect a provision added to state law this year they say protects the Baptist agency’s “religious rights.”
The provision says no contract for children’s services “shall interfere with the contractor’s freedom of religion.” It also requires the state to allow the contractor to hire a subcontractor to deliver any services it can’t provide because of “religiously held beliefs.”
“The language is unequivocally clear and ensures that the state cannot discriminate against a provider because of that organization’s religious convictions,” said a May 12 letter from House Speaker David Osborne and four other Republican leaders to the Governor urging him to respect Sunrise’s position based on the law. It also was signed by 67 House Republicans, the Courier Journal reported.
One of Kentucky’s largest LGBTQ advocacy groups noted, “If Sunrise doesn’t want to abide by that, that’s fine. They shouldn’t have access to state money, state contracts or children in the state’s care,” said Chris Hartman, executive director of the Louisville-based Fairness Campaign.
Hartman added that he is deeply concerned that the LGBTQ children in Sunrise’s care are hiding their sexual orientation out of fear of “indoctrination and proselytization.”
The state set a June 30 deadline for Sunrise to sign. If it refuses, the state has threatened to stop placing children with the agency. Formerly called Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, Sunrise’s history dates to caring for Civil War orphans. It has contracted with the state for 50-plus years, becoming one of Kentucky’s largest service providers for abused or neglected children, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
On Monday the Governor confirmed that the issue was over a clause that aims to prevent discrimination over sexual orientation and gender identity, although he didn’t specify.
“My understanding is that is the clause,” Beshear said, when asked directly whether the clause is in regards to sexual orientation. “My understanding is that there has recently been a settlement agreement that impacts this from litigation against the state, possibly because of those waivers. My understanding is that there’s a new supreme court case, at least since the last time a contract came along,” he told the Associated Press.
The Governor was referring to the case of Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which the U.S. Supreme Court heard last November that could allow private agencies that receive taxpayer-funding to provide government services — such as foster care providers, food banks, homeless shelters, and more — to deny services to people who are LGBTQ, Jewish, Muslim, or Mormon.
Another children’s advocate expressed his concern, “You cannot pivot from losing such a large provider of child welfare services and not anticipate some degree of disruption,” said Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of Kentucky Youth Advocates, a statewide non-profit child advocacy organization.
“If it cuts ties to Sunrise, the state must be prepared to fill the gaps if it loses some foster parents in the agency’s network,” said Brooks. He also stressed that state agencies must ensure a smooth transition for minors who require “intense and specialized treatment” that Sunrise currently provides.
Brooks said he’s confident the state can move children to other agencies but added that “the challenge cannot and should not be minimized.”
“Sunrise would act on a contract today that allows them to care for Kentucky’s needy and abused children while protecting their deeply held religious beliefs,” said Todd Gray, executive director-treasurer of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
In the meanwhile, the Beshear administration claims that it will hold to the Obama-era federal rule which includes the clause Sunrise opposes. That rule expressly defined sexual orientation as a protected class under federal anti-discrimination provisions.
“It would be a mistake not to place kids with wonderful couples that want to be foster parents that are gay,” the governor told reporters earlier this week. “People make wonderful foster parents in all types of couples, and we shouldn’t be eliminating or discriminating against any of them.”