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Workers in adoption agencies and child-placement agencies, regardless of their moral beliefs, will be forced to place children in homes of homosexual couples. Under the new law, there would be no room for differences of opinions. Right now, Connecticut law explicitly permits the Department of Children and Families and child-placement agencies to consider the sexual orientation of a prospective foster parent or adoptive parent; and it does not require workers to place foster children or children up for adoption with homosexuals or bisexuals.15

The new law would change that. Under anti-discrimination rules that would eventually accompany this legislation, many workers - regardless of their moral views or their own views about the best interests of children - would be prohibited from refusing to make adoption placements and foster-care placements in homes of homosexual couples.16 A limited - and grudging - exception might be made for agencies with a religious affiliation. But all other public and private-placement agencies - and the entire court system -- would be forced to follow the new law.

15 Conn. General Statutes Section 45a-726a.
16Employees of larger organizations could refuse to engage in placements to homosexual couples, if doing so violated their religious convictions and if exempting the employee would not cause the employer undue hardship. "It is well settled that '[a]n employer is required to "reasonably accommodate" the religious beliefs or practices of their employees unless doing so would cause the employer undue hardship.'" Phillips v. Collings, 256 F.3d 843 (8th Cir. 2001), citing 42 USC Section 2000e(j).

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