UT - Judge removing foster child from good home because the couple is gay

[MsFacetious]

Yes. really.
No, there is no hidden reason.
Everyone agrees it's because the couple is gay.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=37325894&ni...y-couples-custody&fm=home_page&s_cid=topstory

A juvenile court judge has ordered the removal of a foster child from a lesbian couple because they are gay, according to Utah's Division of Child and Family Services.

The two women, April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce, were in court for a routine hearing Tuesday when 7th District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen announced he was ordering that the 1-year-old girl they have been caring for over the past three months be removed from their home within a week, DCFS director Brent Platt said Wednesday.

According to the judge, the child would be better off with a heterosexual couple.

"That's what is so unique about this situation. There weren't any concerns about the family and no concerns about the placement, it sounds like he has concerns overall with same-sex couples being foster parents," Platt said.

 

[Sulamith]

That is horrible.

I have read that the judge is Mormon. No link so MOO.

The Mormon church just came out with a new policy, horrible IMO, on gay families and some of us on other forums are wondering if that new policy is what caused this judge to screw with the foster child and the couple.

http://www.sltrib.com/home/3147285-155/new-mormon-policy-on-gay-families

SNIP: " A new LDS Church policy toward gay families triggered an avalanche of emotional responses from faithful Mormons trying to understand why children in such unions won't be eligible for a naming blessing, baptism or mission call without the approval of the faith's top leaders."

 

[MsFacetious]

Yes I just assumed the judge was Mormon.
Not sure if this is related to the new policy or not.
However, there are already custody issues from this new policy.
Kids refusing to visit their gay parent... parents going back to court for full custody.
It's going to rip families apart.

I'm very glad I am moving out of this state. :twocents:

 

[KaaBoom]

The judge has a record.

This is not the first time Johansen has been in the news for making controversial rulings.

In 1997, he was reprimanded by the Utah Judicial Conduct Commission for "demeaning the judicial office" after slapping a 16-year-old boy who became belligerent during a 1995 meeting at the Price courthouse.

Johansen was also criticized in 2014 for ordering a woman to lop off her 13-year-old daughter's ponytail as punishment for the teen cutting the hair off a 3-year-old girl at a restaurant. The judge offered to shave off 150 hours of community service from the sentence if she cut her daughter's hair in court.

Utah judge orders same-sex couple to give up foster child, says baby would be better off with heterosexual parents

 

[MsFacetious]

Oh I remember the hair incident.

 

[Sulamith]

Yes I just assumed the judge was Mormon.
Not sure if this is related to the new policy or not.
However, there are already custody issues from this new policy.
Kids refusing to visit their gay parent... parents going back to court for full custody.
It's going to rip families apart.

I'm very glad I am moving out of this state. :twocents:

My husband and I lived in Hurricane, UT years ago when we were young. Got talked into moving their by his brother. We were living in So. Cali. What a shock! Did not like it one bit for a few reasons. The little store there kept the Cosmopolitan magazines under their counter like it was a Playboy.

 

[LolaMoon08]

So, it's okay that she is forced into marriage at 12-years-old? Most likely to a man twice... if not thrice.. her age... and give birth to children soon after?

Makes sense to me...

 

[AnaTeresa]

Infuriating. He needs to be disbarred.

 

[Hatfield]

The judge has a record.



Utah judge orders same-sex couple to give up foster child, says baby would be better off with heterosexual parents[/URL]

The Supreme Court should rule that Utah would be better off without this judge practicing.

The poor kid will probably go back to a foster home and have no parents to love her.
Here we have a couple wanting the child and this judge is saying NO. What a fool.

 

[Hatfield]

Yes I just assumed the judge was Mormon.
Not sure if this is related to the new policy or not.
However, there are already custody issues from this new policy.
Kids refusing to visit their gay parent... parents going back to court for full custody.
It's going to rip families apart.

I'm very glad I am moving out of this state. :twocents:

I never realized the major influence the Mormon church has on so many things in Utah.

I do have a question if anyone knows.

Does the Mormon church influence the entire state OR does it mainly influence the regions of the state around Salt Lake City where the headquarters of the church is at?

 

[MsFacetious]

Judge asked to reconsider removing child from same-sex foster parents' custody

----------------

"We're feeling like we need to support this family and the placement," said DCFS director Brent Platt. "Our request is based on his oral order that our attorney heard him make in court, so we don't have it in writing, but we can't wait. … We have until next Tuesday until we have to move the kid based on this order, so we're not waiting for the written order anymore."

-----------------

The couple has support from the child's birth mother and, before arriving in Johansen's courtroom Tuesday, were making plans to adopt the girl, Williams said. Despite the anxiety that has come from the judge's order, he said Hoagland and Peirce have hope.

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=37338827&ni...same-sex-foster-parents-custody&s_cid=queue-2

 

[SophieRose]

I never realized the major influence the Mormon church has on so many things in Utah.

I do have a question if anyone knows.

Does the Mormon church influence the entire state OR does it mainly influence the regions of the state around Salt Lake City where the headquarters of the church is at?

I had a relative that lived in a SLC suburb back in the 1990's and they said that SLC was fairly cosmopolitan and that they encountered lots of non-Mormons and Jack Mormons. They said the southern part of the state, around St George, was more conservative and religious.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Utah

As of 2007, 60.7% of Utahns are counted as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although only 41.6% of them are active members.[9][10] Mormons now make up about 34%–41% of Salt Lake City,[9] while rural areas tend to be overwhelmingly Mormon. Though the LDS Church officially maintains a policy of neutrality in regards to political parties,[11] the church's doctrine has a strong regional influence on politics.

 

[LaborDayRN]

This story infuriates me. Even the birth mother seems to want her child in this home. This child is loved! Gahhhh!!!

 

[MsFacetious]

I wonder if they could just proceed with the adoption?

 

[bostonstrong]

so the baby probably gets placed with fosters that are just looking for a paycheck instead a coupe looking to adopt them.

as a catholic and a christian i do not understand other so-called christians (including other catholics) being so close minded and stupid.

jesus made friends with prostitutes and lepers, had a tax collector for a disciple and even had a roman soldier for a follower. do i really believe that our messiah would discriminate against people for being gay? idiotic!

 

[Fifth Avenue]

This is yet another case of discrimination and harassment.
I am positve also gay couples can offer a loving home to a child.
No family is prefect, sometimes a family needs help to work out their issues, whether they are gay or straight. But no justification for bias and witchhunt.


Sent via Tapatalk

 

[MsFacetious]

Judge reverses order to remove child from lesbian foster parents

----------------

Utah State Courts released the judge's order Friday, crossing out the mandate from 7th District Juvenile Judge Scott Johansen, which said, "The court believes that it is not in the best interest of children to be raised by same-sex couples."

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=37346276&ni...ild-from-lesbian-foster-parents&s_cid=queue-4

 

[MsFacetious]

Judge who removed baby from lesbian couple's care takes himself off case

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=37385678&ni...es-care-takes-himself-off-case&s_cid=queue-11

 

[bluesneakers]

Sorta related:

About 1,500 Mormons resign from church in protest of same-sex policy

The new church policy bars children of gay married couples from being baptized in the faith until they turn 18, leave their parents' home and disavow same-sex marriage or cohabitation.

Church leaders elaborated on Friday, saying the withholding of baptism would apply only to children whose primary residence was with a same-sex couple.

Isn't LDS the church that baptizes dead people?

 

[PeregrineFaulkner]

Sorta related:

About 1,500 Mormons resign from church in protest of same-sex policy



Isn't LDS the church that baptizes dead people?

Yes. They have even posthumously baptised Hitler. But, the living children of gay parents are just too much for them to deal with, somehow.