The U.S. Supreme Court today said that it will hear a case on whether taxpayer-funded foster care agencies may discriminate against same-sex couples, thus reducing the number of homes available to children in foster care.
The Tennessee Legislature is starting off the new year by passing a bill that will allow adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others.
It’s not news that starting a family can be expensive for queer parents. Many of us have lived that. But a new report from Family Equality lays out the costs for different options; looks at how income variation among LGBTQ people impacts their choice of option; and offers suggestions for addressing the imbalances.
“Noxious”; “heartless and dumb”; “discriminatory and repugnant to our values”—these are just a few of the words that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo used to describe the Trump Administration’s proposed rule that would allow taxpayer-funded foster care and adoption agencies, along with other healthcare entities, to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others. Cuomo pledged to fight the rule and to continue supporting LGBTQ people in New York who want to become parents or care for children in need.
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.
Taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care agencies in Michigan may use their religious beliefs as a reason to discriminate against same-sex and unmarried couples, a federal judge ruled yesterday, overturning a settlement that had been reached earlier this year.
Nicole Opper and Kristan Cassady’s The F Word docuseries in 2017 showed us the beginning of their journey to parenthood through the foster-to-adoption process. Now, they’re back with Season Two, which continues their story and adds in the stories of others.
For the sixth Congress in a row, the Every Child Deserves a Family Act (ECDF) has been introduced in an attempt to ensure that no child lacks for a home because of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or religion. This year’s version of the bill goes even further, however, offering new protections and resources.
It’s only surprising if you weren’t paying attention. The Trump administration let slip last week that they are considering two paths to allowing discrimination against LGBTQ people and others in adoption and foster care, following up on what they’ve intended for a long time.
I knew President Trump’s National Foster Care Proclamation this year would omit mention of LGBTQ families, in contrast to President Obama’s. I reached a new level of anger at the administration, however, when the proclamation called for “kinship care’ whenever possible—as his administration works to let foster care agencies turn away prospective parents—even kin—if they are LGBTQ.
