More than 1,000 experts and organizations filed nearly 50 briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday arguing that taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies should not be able to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others by citing religious beliefs. The implications of this case could go far beyond child welfare, however.
The Trump Administration last week filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court stating that taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies should be allowed to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others if serving them conflicts with the agency’s religious beliefs. The administration’s position should come as a surprise to exactly no one.
The Trump Administration has a cruel sense of timing. This month, National Foster Care Month, they have stopped collecting data on the sexual orientation of youth in foster care and of foster and adoptive parents. The data is needed to make the right decisions and track outcomes for youth in care, advocates say. This comes after the administration issued a new rule on the first day of National Adoption Month last November, which allows taxpayer-funded foster care and adoption agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ people and others.
The American Psychological Association (APA) on Monday issued updated resolutions in support of LGBTQ parents and LGBTQ children, and opposing laws, policies, and practices that discriminate against LGBTQ people.
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.
