A Western Australian tribunal has found a Christian couple were discriminated against when their application to foster a child was rejected over their view that homosexuality is a sin.
Byron and Keira Hordyk applied to become short-term foster carers in 2017 through Wanslea Family Services, a not-for-profit association contracted by the state government to assess foster carer applications.
During the application process, the Hordyks shared their views that, according to the seventh commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”, sexual relations can only occur between a man and a woman who are married and that same-sex relationships were sinful.
They told Wanslea Family Services that, in the event a foster child in their care was found to have kissed a child of the same sex at school, they would tell them they were loved but the behaviour was sinful and must be resisted.
Their application to foster was rejected.
Couple's church on the 'conservative end'
The couple challenged the decision in the State Administrative Tribunal, arguing they had been discriminated against, due to their religious beliefs, under the Equal Opportunity Act.
Academic and Anglican pastor Mark Durie told the tribunal that the Hordyks' church, the Free Reformed Church at Baldivis, was on the “conservative end”.
He gave examples, including that it does not admit women to leadership roles and all hymns sung in the church have to be approved at a national annual meeting, known as a “synod”.
The Free Reformed Churches of Australia (FRCA) has 14 branches in Western Australia and two in Tasmania.
At the tribunal, the pastor confirmed that the church understood the bible’s seventh commandment to prohibit sexual relations outside of a marriage between a man and a woman.
“In my opinion, the FRCA upholds a conservative position on human sexuality, and a conservative biblical hermeneutic, which regards homosexual sexual relations as sinful,” the pastor wrote in his report to the tribunal.
A minister from another branch of the FRCA, Dr Wesley Bredenhof, explained to the tribunal that members of the FRCA hold to the historic Christian understanding of marriage, sexuality and gender.
“This being that marriage is a life-long relationship between one man and one woman; all extra-marital sexuality is contrary to the Bible. Homosexual lusts and behaviours are contrary to the Bible and that there are two fixed genders or sexes, namely male and female.”
Foster agency concerned by 'rigid' views
Wanslea Family Services said the couple were not considered to be competent to be foster carers because they expressed a degree of “rigidity” that was not consistent with the emotional safety of a hypothetical foster child.
The organisation argued that rigidity on gender and sexuality was not based on the religious convictions of their church, but rather their own personal position.
Wanslea also pointed to the fact that not all Christians considered homosexual relations to be problematic.
However, the tribunal found the Hordyks’ belief in their interpretation of the seventh commandment — that homosexuality is “sinful” — was a genuine religious conviction.
The court ordered Wanslea to pay Mr and Mrs Hordyk $3,000 each in damages.
It also ordered the organisation to change the Hordyks’ assessment from “assessed not to meet competencies” to “application discontinued”.
