The Trump administration has once again outdone itself in loathsomeness by issuing a new rule today—the first day of National Adoption Month—that allows taxpayer-funded foster care and adoption agencies to discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion. In fact, it would let all recipients of grants from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) engage in such discrimination, which could impact programs dedicated to youth homelessness, HIV, STI, and substance abuse prevention, among others. Here’s what you can do to help counter it.
What’s Happening
Ten states (Alabama, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia) already now allow child service agencies to discriminate if providing services to someone violates their religious or moral beliefs. All but Alabama and Michigan allow them to do so even if they receive taxpayer money. The newly proposed HHS rule, hinted at in May, would enshrine such discrimination at the federal level and extend it beyond adoption and foster care to the full range of HHS services. Not only that, but the administration says it will not enforce existing nondiscrimination protections in the above categories even while the proposed rule goes through a required comment period before taking effect.
Federal data indicates more than 440,000 children are currently in foster care, 117,000 of whom are waiting for adoption. More than 20,000 children age out of the system each year without finding a permanent family, putting them more at risk for joblessness, homelessness, incarceration, and other problems. A study from UCLA’s Williams Institute has indicated approximately two million LGB adults were interested in adopting. (Transgender adults were not part of the study, but one can assume many also want to adopt children.) And LGBTQ youth are over-represented in foster care, with studies also showing they are likely to have had more foster placements (less permanency), and more likely to have run away or been homeless, kicked out, or trafficked.
The wider impact of the rule, beyond child services, would also fall heavily on the LGBTQ community. HRC President Alphonso David said in a statement that the new rule “would permit discrimination against LGBTQ people, religious minorities, and women in programs related to foster care, adoption, HIV and STI prevention, youth homelessness, refugee resettlement, elder care programs and more. It is unconscionable that the Trump-Pence administration would prioritize advancing discrimination over the wellbeing of vulnerable people and expect taxpayers to foot the bill for their discriminatory policies.”
The LGBTQ community is far from the only one at risk, however. Even before it issued this rule, HHS in January granted South Carolina a waiver to similarly discriminate, after a Protestant foster care agency that takes HHS funds (i.e., taxpayer money) turned away a Jewish woman from mentoring foster youth, simply because she did not share the agency’s beliefs.
The new rule comes just two days after LGBTQ advocates and others were in court arguing against another Trump administration rule set to go into effect shortly, which allows health care workers to refuse to provide medical services that violate their religious or moral beliefs.
What You Can Do
Comment on the Rule
As with all federal rules, this one must go through a period of public comment through the Federal Register before it becomes official. The 30-day comment period for this new rule is shorter than most, however—even HHS’ own document on rulemaking notes, “In most cases, the comment period is 60 days.” Still, we can make the most of that 30 days and submit our comments. You can do so easily via the Every Child Deserves a Family Campaign website; they’ll file it with the official docket.
Support Legislation to Counter the Rule
As I wrote in March, several pieces of federal legislation could help stop religiously based discrimination in child services. Here’s a bit about each, with links to learn more, contact your members of Congress, and contribute your own stories to build support:
- The Every Child Deserves a Family Act, introduced with bipartisan support in the past six Congresses, would withhold federal child welfare funds from states that discriminate against prospective parents or youth in care on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (and for prospective parents, marital status), and allow redress in federal courts. The Every Child Deserves a Family (ECDF) campaign is building bipartisan support for the bill. Here’s how to support ECDF.
- The broader Equality Act, which passed the House in May, is meant to “prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation” in a wide variety of programs and services, including foster care and adoption. It faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate, however. Here’s how to support the Equality Act.
- The Do No Harm Act, introduced in both houses February 28, would ensure that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, meant to prevent the government from “substantially burden[ing] a person’s exercise of religion,” cannot be used to allow discrimination. Here’s how to support the Do No Harm Act.
Also, while the threat here is serious, it’s important to keep in mind: This is not a ban on LGBTQ people adopting or serving as foster parents. Many child service agencies are even doing specific outreach to LGBTQ people. Religious exemption laws will indeed negatively impact many, especially in regions where faith-based organizations provide most or all of the child placements—but this should not stop you from trying to form or grow your family through foster care or adoption. If you feel you have been discriminated against in adoption or foster care because of your sexual orientation or gender identity, however, you can contact one of the hotlines run by LGBTQ legal organizations to discuss your options: