{"id":1998779,"date":"2023-08-12T12:55:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T16:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-denies-catholic-couple-right-to-foster-kids-because-their-faith-not-supportive-of-lgbt-beliefs-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2023-08-12T12:56:37","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T16:56:37","slug":"massachusetts-denies-catholic-couple-right-to-foster-kids-because-their-faith-not-supportive-of-lgbt-beliefs-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-denies-catholic-couple-right-to-foster-kids-because-their-faith-not-supportive-of-lgbt-beliefs-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts denies Catholic couple fostering rights due to their &#8216;unsupportive&#8217; faith: Lawsuit."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmassachusetts-denies-catholic-couple-right-to-foster-kids-because-their-faith-not-supportive-of-lgbt-beliefs-lawsuit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1998779&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>A Catholic Couple in Massachusetts Files Lawsuit Alleging Discrimination in Foster Care Application<\/h2>\n<p>A Catholic Massachusetts couple has recently filed\u2064 a lawsuit against \u2063officials in the state\u2019s Department of Children\u2063 and Families, claiming that their \u2062request to foster children was\u2063 denied due to their religious \u200dbeliefs on gender identity and sexual orientation.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com\/20230808154524\/Burke-Complaint-and-Exhibits.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">federal lawsuit<\/a> was filed this week by Michael \u201dMike\u201d Burke, an Iraq war veteran, and his wife, Catherine \u201cKitty\u201d Burke, a former \u200dparaprofessional for special needs children.<\/p>\n<p>The couple, who described \u200dthemselves \u200cas\u2064 \u201ca loving couple who want to \u2064welcome children into\u200d their family,\u201d have faced challenges\u2064 in starting a family due to infertility issues and the high \u200bcost of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ap-state-threatens-cut-funding-baptist-adoption-agency-holding-christian-teaching\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">private adoption<\/a>, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boston.com\/news\/local-news\/2023\/08\/11\/lawsuit-catholic-couple-says-they-were-barred-from-fostering-children-lgbtq-beliefs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Boston.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As the lawsuit explains, the Burkes decided to apply to become foster parents through the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. They underwent extensive training, interviews, and assessments of their\u2063 home, health, and family life. A significant portion of\u2064 this\u200d process focused \u2063on how they would\u200b support a child who\u2063 identified as a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/lgbt-activist-organization-flooding-schools-cash-create-sexuality-clubs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LGBT community<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the \u200dcouple&#8217;s willingness to parent a child \u2063with various \u200dneeds and their understanding of the\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-announces-new-legal-team-for-impeachment-defense-after-previous-team-collapsed\/\" title=\"Trump Announces New Legal Team For Impeachment Defense After Previous Team Collapsed\">foster care<\/a> system<\/a>, their \u2062application was denied earlier this year. The reason given for the denial was that\u2062 they &#8220;would not be \u200caffirming to a child who identified as LGBTQIA.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Burkes \u200bbelieve that their denial was \u200bdue to their strong Catholic beliefs about marriage, sexuality, and gender identity. They hold the view that children should not undergo procedures attempting to change their biological sex.<\/p>\n<p>The couple&#8217;s \u2063legal team has condemned the \u2062Massachusetts Department of Children and Families for denying\u2064 their request to foster, especially when the state is struggling to provide\u200c adequate housing for all the children in its care. They argue that religious families should be allowed to participate in \u2064foster care and adoption, as Massachusetts \u200blaw permits people\u200b of\u200b faith\u2062 to engage in society.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit aims to prevent Massachusetts from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-denies-catholic-couple-right-to-foster-kids-because-their-faith-not-supportive-of-lgbt-beliefs-lawsuit\/\" title=\"Massachusetts denies Catholic couple fostering rights due to their 'unsupportive' faith: Lawsuit.\">denying foster applicants \u2062based<\/a> on their religious \u200dbeliefs.\u200b The Burkes are \u200dalso seeking to have their\u2062 request to foster granted and are pursuing\u200b nominal and compensatory damages for the difficulties they have faced.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/massachusetts-denies-catholic-couple-right-foster-kids-faith-not-supportive-lgbt-beliefs-lawsuit\/\">The Western Journal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Catholic Massachusetts couple sued the state&#8217;s Department of Children and Families, claiming their request to foster children was rejected due to their religious views on gender identity and sexual orientation. The federal lawsuit was filed by Michael &#8220;Mike&#8221; Burke, an Iraq war veteran, and his spouse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2043,"featured_media":1998780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1998779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1998779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2043"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1998779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1998779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1998780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1998779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1998779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1998779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}