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As Supreme Court Preps Ruling on LGBTQ Rights Adoption, Same-Sex Parents Speak Out for Equal Justice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 27, 2021

MEDIA CONTACTS

Austin Schuler, aschuler@faithinpubliclife.org, (540) 280-3393

John Gehring, jgehring@faithinpubliclife.org, (410) 302-3792

As Supreme Court Preps Ruling on LGBTQ Rights & Adoption, 

Same-Sex Parents Speak Out for Equal Justice

Allies declare religious liberty must not be a permit to discriminate

Washington, D.C.—Today, LGBTQ parents and a legal scholar discussed a major upcoming Supreme Court case, Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, that could allow a Catholic social services agency to receive public funding while discriminating against same-sex couples who want to foster children.

To watch a recording of the event, please click here

John Freml, Father of 5-year-old Riley and 7-year-old Jordan:

“Leaders in the Church might learn from LGBTQ parents. We are human. Our basic humanity and dignity is oftentimes lost. Some of us live our vocation through marriage. The Church claims to be pro-life — I don’t know what is more pro-life than adoption.”

Marianne Duddy-Burke, Executive Director of DignityUSA:

“The experience of Catholic Charities was so bad that we backed out of opportunities interacting with doctors, schools…Until the adoption papers were signed we never felt fully secure that our child wouldn’t be taken away from us.”

Leslie Griffin, Law Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas:

“My hope is the Supreme Court will agree with me and LGBTQ Catholics that discrimination laws must be obeyed.”

John Gehring, Catholic Program Director at Faith in Public Life:

“Most people of faith support non-discrimination policies and religious liberty should never be weaponized to deny LGBTQ couples an equal opportunity to adopt and raise children. Let’s be clear: Catholic and other faith-based agencies provide vital social services, but public funding should not be used to discriminate.”

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Faith in Public Life is a national movement of clergy and faith leaders united in the prophetic pursuit of justice, equality and the common good. Together, with a network of over 50,000 leaders, they are leading the fight to advance just policies at the state and federal level that affirms our values and the human dignity of all.

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