April 24, 2000
Suit against children's home could have national impact
___By Kenny Byrd
___Baptist Joint Committee
___LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABP)--In a far-reaching dispute over the use of tax dollars for religious social ministries, two civil-liberties groups have filed a lawsuit against a Baptist children's home for employment discrimination and against the state of Kentucky for funding the facility.
___The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed the suit in federal district court April 17 on behalf of a lesbian fired by Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children.
___"If this were a church, we would have no complaint. Our concern is that this is an institution receiving large sums of tax dollars and still imposing its religious beliefs on its employees," said Michael Adams, the ACLU's lead attorney in the case.
___Children's home President Bill Smithwick replied: "This is not a political issue. In this context, it is not even a religious issue. It is a child-advocacy issue."
___Smithwick said the agency would "vigorously defend" its policy prohibiting people who engage in homosexual behavior from employment. The organization has roughly 20 days to respond to the complaint.
___One of the plaintiffs in the case is Paul Simmons, who taught Christian ethics for 23 years at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. Also joining the lawsuit are two other clergy members, a civil-rights activist and a second lesbian who wants to seek employment at the children's home. The parents of a boy who was upset at the firing of Alicia Pedreira also joined the suit under the name Jane and James Doe.
___"If you're going to be a state agency, you've got to live by state rules," said Simmons, who is an Americans United trustee.
___Some news reports have indicated Kentucky's Cabinet for Families and Children may not renew state funding for the children's home, although others discount that likelihood. Smithwick said if the state ends its contract with the Baptist homes, then it "will be giving tacit approval to the homosexual lifestyle."
___A spokeswoman for the children's home said this year the organization received $15 million of it $21 million budget from the state. The facility receives the rest of its funding through private donations, foundations and an endowment. It has received state money since the late 1970s through contracts renewed every two years. The group's funding is up for renewal in June.
___The Kentucky Baptist children's home operates in a similar manner to most Baptist children's homes, which generally take state money on a per-bed basis to care for children placed under the state's supervision.
___"Most child care in the United States is carried out by religious agencies, most of which are going to be church-related," explained Ken Hall, president of Buckner Baptist Benevolences, the largest private child-care agency in Texas.
___In Texas, for example, all out-of-home placements other than some foster care are handled by private organizations, mostly Christian-run.
___If courts were to rule that these church-based agencies must be willing to hire homosexuals or lose state funding, hundreds of thousands of abused, neglected and needy children would be displaced, Hall predicted.
___Only one of the four child-care agencies affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas takes no state funding as reimbursement for care, South Texas Children's Home in Beeville.
___At Buckner, "I look at that as a benefit that is due the child," Hall said. "Thus far, the state of Texas has never prohibited Buckner from ministering to a child in the name of Christ, sharing God's love in a direct and indirect manner."
___The government funds Baptist child-care agencies receive are "like if you were going to college and qualified for a Pell grant or if you go to the hospital and qualify for Medicare," Hall said. "These are benefits due you."
___The Kentucky case dates back to 1998, when Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children fired family specialist Alicia Pedreira because she is a lesbian. A photograph of Pedreira and her partner taken at an HIV/AIDS walk was posted at an exhibit at the Kentucky State Fair. A co-worker from the children's home saw the photo and reported it.
___Vickie Grassman, director of communications at Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, said the agency offered Pedreira a temporary position until she could find another job. A copy of the agency's employment application says employees are expected to exhibit values in their professional and personal lifestyles that are "consistent with the Christian mission and purpose of the institution."
___"Having counselors who assert homosexual behavior is not, we believe, the best way to care for troubled and abused children," Smithwick said.
___"That's not a judgment held only by Baptists," Smithwick added. "It is a value shared by many religious people and by many people who are not religious, people who teach and counsel children professionally."
___An ACLU press release states that Kentucky law prohibits employment discrimination based on religion but does not address discrimination based on sexual orientation.
___"Today's lawsuit opens a new front in the battle against employment discrimination," said the press release, "by charging that Alicia Pedreira, a lesbian, was fired because she did not share her employer's religious beliefs about homosexuality."
___The case could have added national significance because of the push by several lawmakers and the leading presidential candidates to implement "charitable choice." Charitable choice allows pervasively sectarian groups, such as churches, to receive direct government money to provide social services.
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