According to her lawsuit, which was filed on 13 October, Kelly Easter wanted to help unaccompanied refugee children by becoming a foster parent for them.
Easter was sent to Bethany Christian Services, a federally funded foster care agency with a history of rejecting applications from LGBTQ+ parents, who denied her initial application.
The policy of LGBTQ+ applicants being denied the chance to apply officially ended in March 2021, though after submitting a follow-up request she was once again rejected.
The lawsuit states that a representative for Bethany told Easter that the office in Nashville (where Easter lives and applied to) is a sub-grantee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) – a group that still does not accept