WA Christian couple Byron and Keira Hordyk win $6000 damages over gay foster child denial

A devout Christian couple who were denied the chance to have a foster child because they believe homosexuality is a sin, received hefty compensation for their “humiliation and hurt feelings.”

Byron and Keira Hordyk, from Perth, sued the Western Australian government for religious discrimination and received a payment of $3,000 each, after Wanslea Family Services denied their application in 2017.

The state’s independent agency contract rejected their request after the couple who have children of their own said they would tell a boy who says he’s gay to “fight sin.”

The Hordyks are members of the conservative Free Reformed Church, a denomination that told the Tasmanian law reform institute in February 2021 that they were practicing “conversion therapy” for which they were “unapologetic”.

Conversion therapy, which has been banned in ACT, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, attempts to change a person’s identified sexual orientation through Bible study and prayer.

Byron (pictured left) and Keira Hordyk (pictured right) sued the Western Australian government for religious discrimination and received a payment of $3000 each.

The Hordyks had responded to a theoretical question about fostering a gay child by saying they would try to convert him to heterosexuality and if this was unsuccessful the placement would have to be terminated, the State Administrative Court heard.

“We certainly wouldn’t leave them in another house that day,” the Hordyks said.

“However, we are taught and believe that all LGBTQ identities are wrong and sinful, but there will be people who will have to fight this sin,” they wrote in their response.

“So we will offer our help and try to do what we can to help this child, but if the child is still gay and still dating etc., the placement won’t work because it goes against our beliefs.”

Wanslea denied the Hordyks a foster child on the grounds that they could not provide a physically or emotionally safe environment for a young person who could identify as LGBTIQ+.

The Hordyks claimed they were religiously discriminated against by the child care agency, and a court upheld their claim.

In response, the Hordyks took the agency to the State Administrative Court alleging religious discrimination.

They asked for $3000 each in compensation “for hurt feelings and humiliation.”

Ms Hordyk told the court she felt ‘gutted’ and ‘devastated’ that her beliefs were labeled ‘dangerous’.

In his testimony, Mr. Hordyk said that the rejection of the basic tenets of his life left him feeling “discouraged.”

“It seems unfair to me that I have to shed my beliefs on these issues just so I can be acceptable to Wanslea. My religious convictions are at the center of all aspects of my life,” Mr. Hordyk said at the hearing.

Wanslea argued that the couple’s rigidity on issues of homosexuality and gender did not stem from their religious convictions.

However, the court disagreed, ordering both Hordyks to be paid “for the loss and damage they suffered as a result of Wanslea’s discrimination.”

The Hordyks attend the Free Reformed Church, which has preached controversial ‘conversion therapy’ (file image pictured)

At the time Wanslea shot them down, the Hordyks said they were speaking for other people of faith.

“We feel that we have been discriminated against and we also feel that if we kept quiet about it and didn’t say anything about it, it could harm or limit the upbringing of anyone with the same Christian values ​​as ours,” Mr. Hordyk. saying western australia.

‘We hold traditional Christian views on how the Bible teaches us about sexuality and marriage.

‘We said it from the beginning. We are not here to hide behind it. Everyone, especially with a divisive issue, is afraid of being thrown into the public eye in a negative light.

“And my beliefs are strong enough that this is my cross.”