A married lesbian couple in Texas is suing the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Trump administration after they were denied the opportunity to serve as foster parents for refugee children. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by the national LGBT civil rights group the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund on behalf of 41-year-old Fatma Marouf and 33-year-old Bryn Esplin, both of whom teach at Texas A&M University.
The women claim that they expressed interest with Catholic Charities of Fort Worth, a sub-grantee of USCCB, in becoming foster parents for unaccompanied refugee children last year. Upon talking with Donna Springer, who is on CCFW’s Board of Directors, last February, the couple said they were told that foster parents must “mirror the holy family.” When the couple made clear that they were a same-sex couple, Springer allegedly told them that they did not “qualify” to be foster parents under the USCCB system. READ MORE
