A Massachusetts couple has filed a lawsuit after they were allegedly subjected to discriminatory standards in their attempt to become foster parents. Mike Burke, who served during the Iraq War, and his wife Kitty say that despite a clean record and otherwise meeting every requirement, officials did not find their religious views on transgenderism and marriage “supportive.”

(Related: Detransitioner Chloe Cole Stuns Congress)

Becket, the non-profit legal group that is supporting the Burkes, put out the following statement. The full text of the lawsuit can be found by clicking here.

When Mike and Kitty applied to become foster parents in 2022, they underwent hours of training, which they completed successfully. Their instructor reported their positive contributions in the class to DCF, noting that the couple helped to enrich the training program for other parents. The Burkes also underwent extensive interviews and a home study. Throughout this process, Mike and Kitty emphasized their willingness to foster children from diverse backgrounds and with special needs. They expressed their openness to fostering sibling groups, as well, so that children in need could maintain those critical family ties. In all respects, the Burkes were an ideal foster family.

During their home interviews, however, the Burkes were troubled that much of the questions centered on their Catholic views on sexual orientation, marriage, and gender dysphoria. In response to these questions, the Burkes emphasized that they would love and accept any child, no matter the child’s future sexual orientation or struggles with gender identity. However, because Mike and Kitty said they would continue to hold to their religious beliefs about gender and human sexuality, Massachusetts denied them a license to foster any child because, as the reviewer put it, “their faith is not supportive and neither are they.”

According to the text of the lawsuit, the only reason given for their denial was that they “would not be affirming to a child who identified as LGBTQIA.” Instead of simply not assigning them a child who “identifies” as such, the Burkes were denied completely from fostering any children.

That denial happened despite the fact that the State of Massachusetts has a severe shortage of foster parents, with as many as 1,500 kids having no home at this moment. It’s safe to assume that the vast majority of those children do not “identify” as LGBTQIA, making the decision all the more indefensible.

Similar to how women are expected to give up their spaces, including restrooms, to appease a tiny fraction of the general population, children who need homes are being denied them so the state can assure the “affirmation” of a tiny fraction of the foster population.

The lawsuit goes on to describe in detail the foster situation in Massachusetts as well as what the state’s constitution provides in the way of protecting the religious liberty of prospective foster parents. There are also a litany of emails and reports attached to the legal filing as exhibits to provide evidence of their side of the story.

Republicans must understand that these injustices are going to continue spreading if they don’t start taking these issues seriously. The throwing away of winnable elections must stop because once the left takes a bite out of the culture and solidifies it into law, it’s almost impossible to reverse. Transgender ideology remains pervasive and destructive. It seeks to destroy the institutions that have undergirded the nation. Never in a million years would any of the Founding Fathers have imagined that someone’s Christian faith would prohibit them from being parents. Yet, that’s exactly what’s happening.