Oregon has declared open war on Christian parents who refuse to violate their faith.
One family found out the hard way what that looks like up close.
What Oregon stamped on their records after abandoning its own case should terrify every family in America.
Oregon Mom Loses Parental Rights After Showing Daughter Videos Opposing Gender-Affirming Care
Nicole and David Calaway are conservative Christians in Oregon who refused to tell their teenage daughter that transgender ideology was true.
Child Protective Services showed up at their home on July 18, 2024, and walked out with their then-15-year-old daughter, K.A.
The trigger was a phone call the day before – Nicole and K.A. had fired their therapist, Jennifer Forster, after accusing her of hiding information from the family.
Oregon Department of Human Services caseworker Rachel Woods encouraged Forster to call the child abuse hotline that same night.
Forster called the next morning and told authorities Nicole had appeared "aggressive and angry" and was cutting her daughter off from all mental health support.
The Calaways say every word of it was a lie – a "fabricated appearance of urgency," as the lawsuit puts it – designed to give Oregon the opening it needed to move.
ODHS moved fast.
In September 2024, Woods sent the Calaways a letter making it official: they were responsible for the "mental injury" of their own daughter.
"Your adverse reactions to [K.A.] expressing their gender identity have caused serious harm to [K.A.'s] psychological functioning," Woods wrote.
The evidence for that mental injury? Nicole had shown K.A. videos questioning transgender ideology – including testimonials from detransitioners – because she wanted her daughter to have all the information before making an irreversible decision.
"When did the truth become mental injury?" David Calaway asked the Daily Signal.
Oregon Child Abuse Finding Follows Christian Family Across State Lines
Oregon never announced what it did next.
In November 2024, ODHS voluntarily withdrew the dependency petition – the very legal claim it had used to remove K.A. from her home.
But the child abuse findings against Nicole and David Calaway stayed on the books – permanent and transferable across state lines.
It mattered, because the Calaways moved to Florida in July 2025.
"In Oregon, if they were to do a background check, I could have lost my notary license," Nicole told the Daily Signal. "I still cannot – even here – volunteer with the church, anything to do with children."
The case against David got darker still.
In December 2025, ODHS quietly issued a new finding: David Calaway had exhibited "a pattern of inappropriate grooming behaviors" involving K.A. while she was in his care.
Oregon filed no police report and made no arrest – just stamped his permanent record and moved on.
David didn't receive the notification until May 12, 2026 – five months after the determination had already been entered.
"If I was being accused of sexual abuse, wouldn't there be a police record? Wouldn't I be arrested? Wouldn't I be in jail?" David asked.
"It's like we're guilty until proven innocent," Nicole told the Daily Signal.
Oregon Child Welfare Agency Has Targeted Christian Parents Over Transgender Ideology Before
Oregon has done this before.
Jessica Bates, a Christian single mother of five in rural Malheur County, was denied the ability to adopt Oregon foster children because she refused to take a child to a Pride parade or to hormone injection appointments.
Oregon lost that fight in the Ninth Circuit in July 2025, where the court ruled the state's blanket gender affirmation policy likely violated the First Amendment.
The Ninth Circuit denied rehearing the case in February 2026 – two months before Oregon's Department of Human Services quietly added a grooming label to David Calaway's permanent file.
Oregon uses child welfare machinery to punish Christian parents who will not surrender their convictions to transgender ideology.
The Calaways filed their federal lawsuit on July 15, 2026, under the Civil Rights Act, naming Forster, Woods, and four additional ODHS officials as defendants.
They are asking for at least $5 million in compensatory damages, punitive damages, and an order removing them from Oregon's child abuse registry.
Trump's Department of Health and Human Services concluded in May 2025 that there is no strong evidence supporting sex-rejecting procedures for minors – the same science the Calaways cited to protect their daughter and that Oregon used as grounds to take her.
David Calaway told the Daily Signal that Oregon came after them because they were conservative Christians who refused to affirm their daughter's transgender identity. "They come and remove her from the home, and that was their reasoning."
The Calaways have permanent child abuse records, no criminal charges against them, and a state order barring Nicole from contacting her own daughter.
Oregon dropped its case and kept the knife.
Sources:
- Tyler O'Neil, "It Has Destroyed Our Lives: Christian Parents Sue After State Takes Daughter When They Didn't Affirm Trans ID," The Daily Signal, July 30, 2026.
- Jim Hoft, "Christian Parents Sue Oregon After State Brands Them Child Abusers for Refusing to Affirm Daughter's Transgender Identity," The Gateway Pundit, July 31, 2026.
- "Christian Parents Sue Oregon for Ruling Them Guilty of Child Abuse for Not Transing Their Daughter After Therapist Claims Mental Injury," The Post Millennial, July 31, 2026.
- "Federal Court Decision on Oregon Adoption Rule: A Win for Religious Liberty," City Journal, August 4, 2025.
- "Federal Government Probes Oregon in Faith-Based Push Against LGBTQ Foster Policy," The Daily Chronicle, September 30, 2025.
