Utah judge removes child from lesbian foster parents

On Wednesday, Utah state child welfare officials were reviewing a ruling by a juvenile court judge who ordered a baby to be taken from lesbian foster parents and instead placed with a heterosexual couple for the child’s “well-being.”

Spokeswoman Ashley Sumner told KUTV that Judge Scott Johansen’s order, which he gave on Tuesday, raised concerns at the Utah Division of Child and Family Services. Attorneys plan to review the decision and determine what options they have to challenge the order.

April Hoagland and Beckie Pierce are part of a group of same-sex married couples who were allowed to become foster parents in Utah after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in June. The couple passed the home inspection, background check, and interviews with DCFS. April and Beckie have had guardianship of a baby girl for three months before the judge removed the child, citing research that children do better when they are raised by heterosexual couples. April believes the judges decision was based off of his religious beliefs.

“We are shattered,” April told KUTV. “It hurts me really badly because I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Spokeswoman Ashley said she can’t speak to specifics of the case but confirmed that the couple’s account of the ruling is accurate — the judge’s decision was based on the couple being lesbians. The agency isn’t aware of any other issues with their performance as foster parents.

“Removing a child from a loving home simply because the parents are LGBT is outrageous, shocking, and unjust,” Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a statement. “It also flies in the face of overwhelming evidence that children being raised by same-sex parents are just as healthy and well-adjusted as those with different-sex parents. At a time when so many children in foster care need loving homes, it is sickening to think that a child would be taken from caring parents who planned to adopt.”