Knoxville, Tennessee couple Elizabeth and Gabriel Rutan-Ram have filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services alleging that the state-funded Holston United Methodist Home for Children have refused to provide the Rutan-Rams with the certification training necessary to adopt a child because they’re Jewish, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
Holston United is weaponizing a controversial Tennessee state law signed by Confederate cosplayer Governor Billy Lee in early 2020 specifically allows for adoption agencies to refuse service to people who “violate the agency’s written religious or moral convictions or policies.” The law, while obviously written to legalize discrimination against LGBTQ couples, was conveniently broad enough to also deem Jewish folk unworthy of parenthood. “I felt like I’d been punched in the gut,” said Elizabeth Rutan-Ram in a news release. “It was the first time I felt discriminated against because I am Jewish. It was very shocking. And it was very hurtful that the agency seemed to think that a child would be better off in state custody than with a loving family like us.”