Blue states want to impose their left-wing ideology on every parent.
They won't take no for an answer.
And what Vermont demanded from Christian foster care parents will make your blood boil.
Vermont Revoked Their Foster Care License Over a Facebook Post
Vermont's Department for Children and Families didn't revoke this couple's license because they mistreated a child.
The state pulled their license because Melinda Antonucci shared a petition on her personal Facebook page – a petition asking a school district to notify parents before secretly transitioning their kids at school.
A DCF employee called her and said supporting that petition was "concerning" because all foster homes must "affirm" gender-confused children.
The couple said they'd gladly foster any child – they just wouldn't facilitate hormone treatments or force their own son to use a foster child's made-up pronouns.
Vermont threatened revocation on the spot.
DCF put it in writing: they didn't know how to move forward "given the inability to predict any foster child's journey with their own identity."
Vermont bureaucrats decided this couple's fitness to care for vulnerable children depended on their willingness to endorse whatever gender experiment a foster child might pursue – including drugging and mutilating minors.
The couple refused to voluntarily surrender their license, demanded formal notification, and sued.
The Religious Freedom Settlement Vermont Was Forced to Sign
The Center for American Liberty brought the federal civil rights lawsuit arguing Vermont turned foster licensing into a political loyalty test.
They were right – and Vermont just admitted it.
Under the settlement, Melinda Antonucci and Casey Mathieu get their license back.
Vermont agreed it cannot condition foster care licensing on an applicant's viewpoints, religious beliefs, or compelled ideological speech.
The state will also adopt statewide guidance putting child safety – not political orthodoxy – back at the center of foster licensing.
Lead attorney Josh Dixon called it "a major win for constitutional rights and for kids who need safe, loving homes."
Vermont can still steer gender-confused children away from homes where parents hold traditional beliefs – but pulling those parents' licenses for those beliefs is now off the table.
The state didn't want that distinction to exist.
Now it does.
Christian Foster Parents Are Winning This Fight in Every Blue State
This isn't a Vermont problem – it's a blue state pattern.
In December, Massachusetts backed down after the Alliance Defending Freedom sued on behalf of two Christian families who collectively fostered 35 children before the state yanked their licenses over the same gender affirmation mandate.
The Trump administration sent Massachusetts a letter in September calling the policy unconstitutional, launched a federal investigation, and Massachusetts rewrote its rules within weeks.
Two more Vermont families had been fighting the same battle in federal appeals court after a district judge sided with the state last year.
Today's settlement gives all four families their licenses back.
Meanwhile, the Administration for Children and Families reports only 57 licensed foster homes exist for every 100 children entering the system – a crisis so severe kids are sleeping in government offices and hotel rooms waiting for placement.
Blue states spent years purging Christian families from their foster programs.
That didn't help a single child.
They made the shortage worse.
Trump signed an executive order in November directing states to stop blocking qualified families over religious beliefs – calling out states maintaining policies that "discourage or prohibit qualified families from serving children in need."
Vermont, Massachusetts, and Oregon wrote that order for them.
Antonucci put it plainly: "The state tried to disqualify us because of our protected beliefs and because we wouldn't say what the government wanted us to say."
Compelled speech – and Vermont just walked away from it.
More lawsuits are coming in more blue states.
Every one of them is going to end the same way.
Sources:
- Louis Casiano and Michael Dorgan, "Vermont couple reclaims foster care license after taking a stand on child gender transitioning," Fox News, February 20, 2026.
- "Major Win – Vermont: Foster Care License Restored to Couple Opposed to Transgender Treatments on Children," Breitbart, February 20, 2026.
- "DCF settles federal cases related to foster care of LGBTQ youth," Vermont Business Magazine, February 20, 2026.
- "Massachusetts drops controversial gender ideology mandate for licensing foster care parents," Fox News, December 18, 2025.
- "Vermont Imposes Gender Ideology Litmus Test for Foster Parents," Alliance Defending Freedom, November 2025.
- Alex J. Adams, "Homes Waiting for Children, Not Children Waiting for Homes," City Journal, January 13, 2026.
- "ACF Unveils New Initiative to Strengthen American Families – A Home For Every Child," Administration for Children and Families, 2025.
