Tennessee state Sen. Paul Rose, R-Tipton, speaks on his bill allowing faith-based adoption agencies to decline to place children with same-sex couples because of their religious belief during a legislative session in 2020. On Thursday, appellate judges revived a couple’s lawsuit that alleges a state-sponsored Christian adoption agency wouldn’t help them because they are Jewish and argues that a Tennessee law protecting such denials is unconstitutional. (AP/Mark Humphrey) NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Appellate judges have revived a couple’s lawsuit that claims a state-sponsored Christian adoption agency wouldn’t help them because they are Jewish and argues that a Tennessee law protecting such denials is unconstitutional. On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the state Court of Appeals ruled that Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram have the right as taxpayers to sue in the case, as do six other taxpayer plaintiffs. The ruling overturns a lower court’s determination in June 2022 that none of them had legal standing. The case can now proceed in the trial court. The lawsuit against the state challenges a 2020 law that installed legal protections for private adoption agencies to reject state-funded placement of children to parents based on religious beliefs. Much criticism of the law focused on how […]
