Once again, way to go, Utah! It's bad enough you're one of the reddest states in the country, but now, by stripping a loving, stable couple of a foster baby because they are lesbians, you show how intolerant you are of behavior not sanctioned by the Mormons. The LDS church is not the law of the land, but this is what happens when a state is under theocratic rule. After all, most of the people in government in Utah are Mormons.
Judge Scott Johansen, graduate of BYU Law School, doesn't believe that two lesbians can provide a stable home.
The two women, April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce, were in court for a routine hearing Tuesday when 7th District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen announced he was ordering that the 1-year-old girl they have been caring for over the past three months be removed from their home within a week, DCFS director Brent Platt said Wednesday.
Really Utah's Division of Child and Family Services? This is disgusting. Of course the couple is heartbroken.
(That's because) the baby they've loved and raised for the last three months will be removed from their home and sent to heterosexual foster parents because a judge said the baby would be better-off.
"We are shattered," said April. Judge Scott Johansen ordered the baby removed from their house in seven days.
There's no secret that the Mormon Church has a very sordid, racist history. Hell, Carbon County even has an ugly past with KKK violence. Why not add a little homophobia while we're at it?
Hillary tweeted her support for the women, but this won't make a damned bit of difference in this ass-backwards Utah county named for its deposits of coal and natural gas.
Being a good parent has nothing to do with sexual orientation—thousands of families prove that. https://t.co/xQLh25RAYR
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 12, 2015
Hoagland and Peirce have met every DCFS requirement to become licensed foster parents, including routine reviews with the division while they have been caring for the child, according to Platt. If the girl would have become eligible for adoption and the couple had expressed interest in taking her, the division intended to support them, he noted.
"It's my understanding they have a couple of older children, these are experienced parents," (Director of Utah DCFS) Platt said. "As far as we're concerned, it was an appropriate placement. It was a placement that worked for the kid and worked for the family, so we were surprised the judge issued that order."
This is just another tragic example of religion interfering with American law, to the detriment of the most important parties involved: the ones who made the mistake of loving their foster baby. When is Utah going to move into the 21st Century? If the LDS Church has their way, probably never.
UPDATE: Good news for April and Beckie: the judge has reversed the decision!
Court officials on Friday released an order signed by Judge Scott Johansen that will allow the 9-month-old baby to stay with April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce.
It comes after Johansen said in court Tuesday that the baby would be removed from the couple's home. Utah officials and the couple filed court challenges demanding the judge rescind the order.
