A Southampton couple seeking to adopt filed a discrimination lawsuit this week against employees of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. They allege an agency worker raised questions about their fitness to parent because of their religious beliefs.
Specifically, they claim the agency flagged their eligibility because the couple believes a LGBTQ child “would need to live a chaste life.”
Their lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, then transferred to the Western Division.
A DCF official said Thursday that the lawsuit has not been served to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and that the agency and department declined to comment.
Mike and Kitty Burke, lifelong residents of their Hampshire County town, wanted to become parents. The couple married in 2018 and struggled with infertility, which led them to seek private adoption. When that path became too costly, the Burkes began the process to become foster parents with the hope of adopting a child, according to the lawsuit.
The Burkes’ goal with their lawsuit, they said, is not only to be approved to be foster parents, but “to end this campaign against faith and kids in need once and for all.”
In January 2022, the Burkes applied to the DCF be what’s known as resource parents. Over the next few months, they underwent training and interviews to deem whether or not they were fit to be resource parents.
While DCF employees were approving of many aspects of the Burkes’ qualities, their religion became a topic of contention, according to the couple.
The Burkes are heavily involved in the Catholic Church, both as parishioners and workers. They work as musicians for their church – Kitty as a cantor and Mike as an organist – and regularly attend Masses at Our Lady of Fatima Parish.
Since the Burkes are devout Catholics, they believe people should not engage in premarital sex and that marriage is strictly between a man and a woman.
When asked their opinion if their child identified with a sexual orientation other than being straight, the complaint alleges that Kitty said, “there’s nothing wrong with it, I’m going to love you the same, but I believe you would need to live a chaste life.”
Mike agreed with her sentiment and expressed a desire to talk more with their child about it, according to the lawsuit.
In an opinion piece submitted to The Republican and MassLive, the Burkes wrote that the told the agency “that we would love and accept our child no matter their future sexual orientation or struggle with gender dysphoria.”
However, they previously said they would not support a medical gender transition for that child if they came out as transgender due to their belief that sex is immutable. WHY PREVIOUSLY? IF IT IS LAID OUT THAT WAY IN THE LAWSUIT, JUST SAY, “according to their complaint.”
Linda-Jeanne Mack, program director of Child Welfare Adoption Services with 18 Degrees Family Services, visited the home of the Burkes for an interview. Afterwards, she wrote a recommendation to the agency’s Licensing Review Team and acknowledged that the Burkes’ had many positive attributes, including an openness to fostering a child regardless of race or ability.
However, Mack recommended that the couple be granted “approval with conditions” due to their religion and views on the LGBTQIA+ community. According to the lawsuit, Mack expressed her apprehension by writing that the Burkes “are heavily involved in their Catholic Church and cite their religious views as their primary reason for seeing LGBTQIA++ individuals in this way.”
The Burkes said in their commentary that they filed the discrimination lawsuit because they believe their denial is strictly due to their “deeply held religious beliefs.”
The DCF’s Licensing Review Team, which examined the Burkes’ file, deemed that it was concerned with “the couple’s statements/responses regarding placement of children who identified LGBTQIA.”
Although Mack was concerned about the Burkes’ religion in her recommendation, the team did not reference their religion in stated issues of concern, but instead focused on their views of the queer community, according to the lawsuit.
