DCFS and an attorney for the couple filed motions late Thursday asking Johansen to reconsider. The couple hopes to adopt the girl.
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“It is unconscionable that any judge would let bias interfere with determining the true best interest of a child and we strongly encourage the commission to take appropriate action to hold this judge accountable and to affirm that personal bias has no place in judicial decisions in Utah”.
After the news was reported by the Associated Press and the NY Times, the Utah Department of Human Services confirmed to the Washington Blade Judge Scott Johansen of the Seventh District Juvenile Court had changed his order.
“We were under a lot of pressure, and we feel like that has been relieved”, Sumner said.
The division is still evaluating its options and preparing in advance of the upcoming hearing, Sumner said. Hoagland and Peirce, who are legally married, were interviewed in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, November 11, 2015. Specifically, compared with children raised by married, biological parents, children of homosexual parents are more likely to be on public assistance, have lower educational attainment, and report both less safety in their childhood families and more continued “negative impact” from them. Doing so became possible after last year’s Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide, and they began fostering a one-year-old child in August. She added the agency was not aware of any issues with the couple’s performance as foster parents.
“I wasn’t in court that day but it’s my understanding that the judge alluded to a few research he had that led him to believe that children being raised in a home with same-sex couples don’t fare as well as other children”, Platt said.
State child welfare officials are reviewing the order.
The order indicates a 2010 article titled “Parenting and Child Development in Adoptive Families: Does Parental Sexual Orientation Matter?” was received as evidence in the case. “I’m just grateful that the judge has decided not to take her out of our home today”. “It’s just going to be another day”. Instead, the girls discovered widespread support from their classmates, Hoagland and Peirce said.
Describing themselves as people who don’t like attention, the couple has been shocked to see their story make national headlines, but they also say they did what they needed to do to fight for their family.
Hunnicutt said he didn’t know what caused the judge to change his mind but that the initial decision violated the U.S. Constitution and harmed the baby.
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Groups including the Anti-Defamation League, Human Rights Campaign and the American Civil Liberties Union called the order outrageous and unjust.
