Christian foster parents condemn 'gay laws'
24 Oct 2007- UK- A Christian couple who
have taken in 28 children have been forced to give up being foster parents after
they refused to promote homosexuality.
Vincent Matherick, 65, and his 61-year-old wife
Pauline were told by social services that they had to comply with legislation
requiring them to treat homosexuality as equal to heterosexuality.
They said that officials had advised them that
if children in their care expressed an interest in homosexuality, they would be
expected to take them to gay support group meetings.
The couple said that while they would neither
condemn nor condone homosexuality, they could not actively promote it because of
their religious beliefs.
The couple, who faced being removed from the
carers' register, decided to stop fostering early. As a result, their
11-year-old foster son is being moved to a children's unit.
Mr Matherick, a Christian minister and a
primary school governor, said: "We have never discriminated against anybody but
I cannot promote homosexuality when I believe it is against the word of God.
It's terrible that we've been forced into this corner.
"They were saying that we had to be prepared to
talk about sexuality with 11-year-olds, which I don't think is appropriate
anyway, but not only that, to be prepared to explain how gay people date."
Mrs Matherick said: "We feel we are being
discriminated against as Christians, and many others are finding themselves in
our position."
The Mathericks, who have three children of
their own, are ministers at the non-conformist South Chard Christian Church,
near their home in Chard, Somerset. They have cared for 28 children through
Somerset County Council's social services department.
In February this year a social worker told the
couple that the council was obliged to implement the Government's sexual
orientation regulations. The rules, enacted this year, make it illegal for the
suppliers of goods or services to discriminate on the grounds of sexuality.
David Davies, the Tory MP for Monmouth, said:
"It's absolutely horrendous that Christian men and women doing their bit for the
community are being discriminated against because of their beliefs. I'm quite
certain that social services would never dare to ask a member of any other
established religion to agree to such a stance on homosexuality."
Valerie Riches, the founder president of Family
and Youth Concern, said: "This is rather typical of the distorted view of
equality that this Government seems to have."
A spokesman for Somerset County Council said
that it was obliged to implement the regulations. "I am not suggesting that it
is not very difficult for some people, but there is still an obligation under
the law," he said.
A spokesman for the council's children's and
young people's directorate said it was about "equality issues" not
homosexuality. "It is not about promoting homosexuality, it is about foster
carers being aware of equality issues," he said, adding that the council did not
expect to lose any more carers as a result of the rules.
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