The city has resumed contracting with Bethany Christian Services for foster-care and adoption services after the agency agreed to comply with local law and not discriminate against LGBTQ couples wishing to participate in the program.
Religion is a protected class in American federal law, but gender/sexual identity is not. However, in Philadelphia, along with other municipal pockets across the state, antidiscrimination laws make LGBTQ people equal to everyone else. In other words, if a religious organization accepts city funds to fulfill contracts, members of that organization are not permitted to deny candidates who believe or live differently — in Philadelphia, at least.
That Bethany, a Michigan-based global Christian organization, has agreed not to discriminate is the beginning of the story, not the end. Bethany’s decision to accept LGBTQ foster parents should be viewed both with skepticism and vigilance to ensure this actually happens.
“Our faith calls us to work with vulnerable children and families and therefore, it is important that Christians remain in this space,” Bethany said in a statement. “To that end, while we will remain compliant with the law, we also remain committed to our Christian beliefs and core values.”
The exclusion of LGBTQ people from fostering is part of Bethany’s Christian beliefs and core values. Outside Philadelphia and in areas where local funding is not tied to antidiscrimination laws, Bethany can continue to take public funding and deny foster eligibility to LGBTQ people. Certainly federal law allows it, as the nondiscrimination section of Bethany’s website reminds us: “Under the Affordable Care Act Final Rule for federally funded health programs and activities, Bethany Christian Services and its subsidiaries do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability.”
We would do well to remember that the Founding Fathers did not actually believe that all were created equally. Two-hundred and forty-two years later, we’re still fighting for it.