Washington Foster Parents Win a Settlement After the State Required Them to Use Children's Preferred Pronouns

A Washington state couple who spent more than a decade caring for foster children say they have won a legal fight over religious freedom. Fox News reports that Shane and Jennifer DeGross, who are Christians, told Fox News Digital that the state has agreed to change its foster care licensing rules after a dispute over requirements tied to gender identity and preferred pronouns.

How it started. The couple say the trouble began in 2022, when they went to renew their foster license and found the state had changed its requirements. "While we agreed that we would love and care for any child in our home, they had specific things that we could not agree to as Christians," Jennifer DeGross said. Shane DeGross said the state wanted them to affirm its views on gender identity and human sexuality, which he said conflict with a biblical view. Washington's policies called for foster parents to support LGBTQ children, including through preferred names and pronouns.

The age cap. Jennifer says the state later partly reinstated their license but limited the ages of children they could foster. "When a child reached 5, they had to be removed from our home," she said, and she argued that is not in the child's interest after years in the same household. They felt they were still being discriminated against, she said.

The settlement. The couple's lawyers at Alliance Defending Freedom say the case ended in a settlement under which Washington agreed to revise its licensing rules. Senior counsel Johannes Widmalm-Delphonse says a proposed rule, WSR 26-20-103, now in public notice and comment, would give foster parents a religious exemption from any rule requiring them to violate their beliefs on gender or sexuality. He said states are "on notice" that they must respect First Amendment rights, and pointed to the Bates v. Pakseresht decision as another example. He did not say the rule has been adopted, and Fox does not report that it has.

The state's view. The Department of Children, Youth, and Families said it values a diverse foster community. Secretary Tana Senn said the agreement "respects the religious beliefs of foster parents, while ensuring LGBTQIA+ youth are placed in an environment that is safe and supports their well-being." Fox says it asked the department for more comment.

Shane DeGross called it "a great victory in the sense that more Christians can be available to love and care for foster kids without fear of being excluded because of their religious beliefs."

Note for readers: the account of the dispute comes mainly from the DeGrosses and their attorney. We have not seen the settlement terms or the proposed rule.