News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
91.7FM Alpena and WCML-TV Channel 6 Alpena are off the air. Click here to learn more.

Judge to decide if faith-based adoption agencies can turn away LGBTQ people as lawsuit plays out

Flickr User Kevin T. Quinn
/
https://flic.kr/p/BTjCT

Faith based adoption and foster agencies might be allowed to keep turning away prospective parents based on their sexual orientation. 

That’s if a federal judge allows it while an underlying lawsuit plays out.  In March, Attorney General Dana Nessel settled a different lawsuit – the terms of the settlement prevent the state from working with agencies that discriminate based on sexual orientation.

       Jay Kaplan is an attorney with the ACLU of Michigan. The organization supports the state.

“Allowing contracted agencies to turn away families who might be very well qualified to provide loving and stable homes to children is not in the best interest of children.”

 

Faith-based agencies say there is a 20-15 law that allows them to not work with LGBTQ people and still get state contracts. They say unless that law is followed, they’ll have to close their doors.