Mike and Kitty Burke, lifelong residents of Springfield, Massachusetts,REF applied to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) to be foster parents. They successfully completed the required training, extensive interviews, and an evaluation of the home environment in which foster children would live. Objectively, the Burkes looked like ideal foster parents; Kitty even had experience working with special needs children. As it turned out, however, they had one thing that mattered more than all of their positive qualifications combined: the wrong religious beliefs about sexuality and marriage.
During their foster parent training, for example, the Burkes were told that foster parents must affirm same-sex relationships and transgender identities. As faithful Catholics, however, the Burkes could not agree to comply. As a result, the home interviewer recommended against allowing the Burkes to foster “due to the couple’s views.”REF In the end, DCF rejected the Burkes because of their “beliefs.”REF
