Gov. Andy Beshear isn’t renewing the state contract with Sunrise Children’s Services, the oldest adoption and foster-care agency in Kentucky. Sunrise operates according to their Christian values and there’s the rub. The state has held Sunrise at arms length and unless Sunrise violates its religious convictions, Gov. Beshear will sever ties and refuse foster care and adoption referrals from the state. This is far from the tolerance that Gov. Beshear says he believes in. Todd Gray, the Executive Director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, is asking concerned citizens to contact the Governor’s office so that Sunrise “can continue their work of caring for Kentucky’s most vulnerable children and families.” If the governor doesn’t change his mind, ultimately Kentucky’s most vulnerable children will lose.
What religious convictions does the governor want Sunrise to give up? This is the first I’m hearing about this and am very curious. I’ve googled and came up with nothing on this. Just making sure it’s legit and not another silly internet hoax designed to divide people.
The Governor isn’t asking them to give up anything. Sunrise isn’t happy that they aren’t including their addendum to allow them to turn away same-sex couples. They refused the contract, not the other way around. Thank you for trying to do some research and realizing that this situation is fishy.
Unfortunately it’s legit. Sunrise is a Christian based organization that will not allow LGBTQ to becomes foster parents or work for the agency. However, they do not turn down kids with these affiliations and will make every effort to refer a family to an appropriate agency. It’s a strong held belief that the southern Baptist have.
This spin isn’t true. Sunrise refused the contract based on their beliefs and not the other way around. The Governor isn’t asking them to go against their beliefs at all. What the Governor IS doing is not giving them the addendum to make them the exception to the rule and they aren’t pleased with that. Since they try to say they are a Christian organization, you would think they would tell the truth about this and not spin it to make them look like the victims.
Charlie, stop pushing out wrong information. Shame on you. Anyone can read the original government document and understand what is happening.
Todd Gray, the Executive Director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, stated that the most venerable children in our state will be at risk due to Governor Beshear’s decision to sever his responsibility to assist Sunrise Children’s Services. While this is certainly true, the governor reinstated abortion on his first week in office. Clearly, these actions are very revealing about his priorities. The most defenseless unborn are in grave danger, and the children needing family support and structure are in danger. This is not the actions of a Christian leader.
To sum it up: unless Sunrise agrees to sign a contract that requires them to give up their strongly held religious beliefs, the state of Kentucky will not renew the contract which ends June 30. The two parties have not resolved this yet.