Michigan’s Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel recently settled a lawsuit started by her predecessor that allowed the state to block funding for foster care organizations that discriminate against same-sex parents. It was the right decision, and, of course, Christian Right groups were livid that their bigotry wouldn’t be subsidized by the state.

There was one surprising outcome: Bethany Christian Services, which handled about 8% of the state’s foster care and adoption services, said it would adjust and work with gay couples instead of shutting down out of spite. Even Nessel commended the change in a tweet.

They deserved the praise. While it shouldn’t have taken a lawsuit for them to work with all qualified families, Bethany did what many religious groups have refused to do. They prioritized the kids’ needs over their personal delusions.

That’s infuriating to the Illinois Family Association’s Laurie Higgins, who now says the group isn’t actually Christian (and she gets to decide, thank you very much) and wonders aloud when they’ll start handing kids over to incestuous couples.

[Bethany Christian Services] follows in the sullied footsteps of its affiliate in Philadelphia and Illinois’ Lutheran Child and Family Services (LCFS). BCS should now remove “Christian” from its name. … Does any theologically orthodox Christian believe Jesus would have placed orphans in the homes of unrepentant homosexuals who believe homosexual acts are pleasing to God? What do BCS and LCFS think families headed by homosexuals will teach their children about homosexual acts and marriage — which is a picture of Christ and his bride, the church?

Ah, yes. I almost forgot. Higgins is the final arbiter of who counts as a True Christian™.

Also, as the son of heterosexual parents, I am forever grateful that they never attempted to teach me about heterosexual acts. Somehow, I got married without Christ or His church, either. HOW WAS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!

Then Higgins notes a YouTube video by Katy Faust, who says same-sex couples should absolutely be an option for kids… at least after straight couples have thoroughly rejected them first. Higgins takes issue with this notion that gay couples should ever be an option at all by making her usual unpersuasive comparison to an incestuous relationship.

Would Ms. Faust’s position pertain if the adopting parents were two brothers in a consensual incestuous relationship or if the parents were five people of various sexes in a polyamorous relationship?

It’s been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Well, here you have someone making the same flawed analogy over and over and expecting it to eventually become convincing. You draw your own conclusions.

Higgins then cherry picks a couple of stories of gay people in an attempt to scare readers (OMG, look at the naughty image he posted on Facebook!) but, again, she makes the mistake of assuming liberals are fine with any and all gay couples being able to adopt children.

Today LCFS would place a 15-year-old self-identified homosexual boy in the care of such a couple, and many Americans would cheer such a placement as a manifestation of social justice and evidence of progress.

No one has ever said what she’s implying here. Kids need to be in safe homes. Whoever is adopting them should meet rigorous standards. There are a number of factors that play into that, including their careers, their social support networks, their involvement in the kids’ lives, etc. If a gay couple can’t meet those standards, they shouldn’t be allowed to adopt kids. But the mere fact that they’re gay shouldn’t be a disqualifier just as any straight couple shouldn’t automatically move to the top of the queue. (Did you read that horrific story of a foster child who was given to Christian parents after they fought against her being placed with her three brothers in the home of a gay father?)

Michigan was right to challenge the ban. Bethany Christian Services was right to let go of the bigotry. Kids will be better off because of their decisions. And people like Higgins continue to inadvertently make the case that kids are going to have a much better life under the care of a loving, qualified same-sex couple than a couple of conservative Christian parents who dedicate their lives to spreading lies about homosexuality.

(Image via Shutterstock)

