A Utah judge today reversed his order to take a foster child away from a same-sex couple because of their sexual orientation, reports The New York Times.
The judge, Scott N. Johansen of Juvenile Court, had issued an order Tuesday saying that the child, a 9-month-old girl, had to be removed from the home of a lesbian couple by the end of the day next Tuesday, and placed with a heterosexual couple.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the Utah Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) on Thursday filed a petition for a stay of the order, while an attorney for the foster parents women — April Hoagland and Beckie Peirce — filed a separate petition asking the judge to reverse his own ruling.
The couple, who are also raising Peirce’s biological children, ages 12 and 14, intend to adopt the girl and have said the child’s mother told Johansen on Tuesday she wants her daughter raised by the couple.
