ACLU threatens to sue Baptist children’s home
Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children releases lesbian employee, citing that homosexuality is not in best interest of children being counseled
From, The Kentucky Citizen Digest, January/February, 2001.

Following a barrage of lawsuits trying to ban both the posting of the Ten Commandments and a law that requires the informed consent of women considering abortions (see page seven), the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Kentucky chapter is now threatening to sue Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children (KBHC) for its policy that led to the firing of a lesbian employee.

“This is not about religious discrimination. It’s not about the separation of church and state. It’s a child advocacy issue,” says Dr. Bill Smithwick, president of the organization.

“We place a great priority on the role models who work directly with our children. We don’t believe that we in any way should be encouraging a lifestyle that could potentially take 20 to 30 years off a child’s life. That lifestyle is homosexuality.”

The ACLU’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project/AIDS Project has threatened to follow through with the suit unless KBHC amends its employment policies to allow homosexuals or refuses state reimbursement to care for young victims of physical and sexual abuse and neglect.

The suit would mean that KBHC’s contract with the state of Kentucky could be cancelled. Contract cancellation, some observers suggest, is the real goal of the ACLU and their gay activist allies. This position is ironic in that employment rights are one of the goals sought by gay activists, yet they seem to be willing to shut down the jobs of others if they don’t comply with their demands.

According to Smithwick, the group currently serves about 360 children. Without the contract, that number would be reduced to 60. KBHC assists more than 3,800 children and adults each year. The question must be raised if the contract is cancelled, “Who will care for these individuals?”

Melissa Stewart, an attorney who serves as the spokesperson for Equal Rights Not Special Rights, states, “This is yet one more example of how far homosexuals will go to force acceptance of their lifestyle upon others. ... The fact that in this instance children are the ones who are asked to accept homosexuals and the consequences of their lifestyle is deeply disturbing.”

Equal Rights Not Special Rights is an organization made up of individuals who believe in equal rights for all citizens, but not special rights for some.

As of date of publication, the ACLU had taken no official action.
 
 
 

Key Family Foundation Contacts: Kent Ostrander, Executive Director Martin Cothran, Senior Associate Policy Analyst