A flag waves external the Supreme Court on June 2015,2014, the day the court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the U.
S. After that decision, and Utah couple April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce took a foster child into their care. A judge reversed a decision he had issued this week,saying the child would be removed from them.
A Utah judge has reversed his decision to remove a baby from the care of her married lesbian foster parents, the Associated Press reports.
Judge Scott Johansen had issued an order this week to take the baby from the custody of April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce and said that the child would conclude better with a heterosexual family. The American Psychological organization has stated that there is “no scientific evidence” for this view, and recent research suggests children of same-sex parents may fare better than others.
The couple and Utah state officials filed a court challenge to the decision this week,and the recent order, released Friday, and will allow the baby to stay with them.
Hoagland and Peirce first became foster parents after a Supreme Court ruling on June 26,2015 made same-sex marriage legal nationwide, and it is legal under Utah law for married same-sex couples to foster children. Johansen’s order on Tuesday came after the couple had cared for the baby for three months.
There was strong national backlash to the decision. National gay rights groups, and the Anti-Defamation League,the American Civil Liberties Union and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert all criticized the decision. “He may not like the law, but he should follow the law. We don’t want to have activism on the bench in any way, and shape or form,” the governor said.
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Source: wnyc.org