Listen to this articleLate yesterday, a federal district court denied motions by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to dismiss Lambda Legal’s lawsuit challenging discrimination in a federal foster care program. Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit on behalf of a married same-sex Texas couple, Fatma Marouf and Bryn Esplin, who were denied the opportunity even to apply to serve as foster parents for refugee children by a USCCB affiliate because the couple did not “mirror the Holy Family.”
“It was so shocking and hurtful to be told that we don’t qualify to foster refugee children because of who we are and who we love,” said Marouf. “We look forward to telling our story in court and working to ensure that children receive the loving homes they deserve, and that same-sex couples receive the respect and dignity owed to us under the Constitution,” added Marouf’s spouse, Bryn Esplin.
“We are delighted that the court properly determined that Fatma and Bryn deserve their right and opportunity to tell their story in court,” Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Jamie Gliksberg said. “HHS tried to have it both ways, to provide funding to an organization – USCCB – that it knew would discriminate based on the organization’s own religious beliefs, and then to claim it can’t be held responsible for that discrimination when it occurred. Thankfully, the court saw through the smokescreen.”
HHS funds the program that turned away Marouf and Esplin exclusively with federal taxpayer money through its Office of Refugee Resettlement. Specifically, HHS and ORR funded USCCB to perform federal child welfare services through its affiliates even though USCCB made clear that it would use the funds to deny such services to members of the public based on USCCB’s religious beliefs.
“The court held that it was a matter of public record that USCCB and its affiliates would not place children with same-sex couples,” Gliksberg added. “USCCB even stated in its grant applications that it would provide services using federal funds in accordance with its religious beliefs. HHS knew this and funded USCCB anyway. There should be only one criterion for placing foster children – what is in the best interests of the child. Placing children with stable, loving homes such as Fatma and Bryn’s should be at the top of the list.”
In addition to allowing Marouf and Esplin’s claims to move forward, the court dismissed a third plaintiff from the case, the National LGBT Bar Association, holding that the association’s members could not challenge the particular funding scheme in this case based solely on their status as taxpayers.
Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit in February 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The lawsuit claims HHS is violating the Establishment, Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the U.S Constitution by authorizing USCCB to discriminate on the basis of the organization’s religious beliefs in its provision of federal child welfare services. Last month, Lambda Legal together with the ACLU and ACLU of South Carolina filed a separate lawsuit against HHS on behalf of a South Carolina same-sex couple similarly denied the opportunity to serve as foster parents because the government-funded private placement agency was granted a waiver by HHS to apply a particular religious filter to potential foster parents.
Today, the court ruled to deny the motion to dismiss as to Esplin and Marouf and their case will proceed on each of their constitutional claims.
