A lawsuit over the firing of a lesbian employee has been filed against the Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children by the employee in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AUSCS).
The lesbian employee, Alicia Pedreira, was fired in October 1998 after a picture with her homosexual partner — and with Pedreira wearing an “Isle of Lesbos” T-shirt — was displayed in a photo contest at the Kentucky State Fair in August.
A news release distributed nationally by AUSCS called the case “ground-breaking” because it will “test the boundaries of tax aid to church-run social services.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville on April 18.
Bill Smithwick, executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, told news media the agency will defend itself against the suit. Homosexuals are not good role models for the Baptist Homes’ children, many of whom have been sexually abused or are sexually confused, Smithwick told the media.
Apart from the lawsuit, Kentucky officials, including Gov. Paul Patton, are deciding whether to terminate the state’s ties to the Baptist ministry when the state contract expires June 30.
Smithwick told the media losing the contract would be a serious blow to the agency, that layoffs would become necessary and, possibly, the closing of some of its operations across the state.
Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children’s annual budget is $21 million, including funding to care for about 360 abused and/or neglected children in eight residential facilities across the state.
It is the largest private childcare program in the state, providing care for an overall 3,000 children and families each year in the residential facilities, 20 counseling sites across the state, 100 foster homes and, among other ministries, a pregnancy counseling and adoption program and a family preservation and family reunification program.
Most of the children in the care of Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children have been placed by the state, which has had a contract with the Baptist agency since the late 1970s.
But the Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children will not abandon its beliefs on homosexuality in order to keep its state contract, Smithwick said.
The agency’s board of directors decided in March to defend their belief that hiring homosexual counselors is “not the best way to care for troubled and abused children,” Smithwick said.
“We are not going to acquiesce to political pressure,” he said. It’s not “a religious issue. It’s a child-advocacy issue. What we’re talking about is what’s in the best interest of children.”
In a March 30 news conference at Louisville’s Walnut Street Baptist Church, Smithwick recounted, “We have met with the ACLU but have not been able to reach an agreement.”
He said state officials “would prefer that we settle with the ACLU,” then noted, “We don’t think we’ll be able to reach an out-of-court settlement.”
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